MID SUMMER 2019 REVIEWS

by Mike Baron

IN DEED: Everest (Big Stir)

Jangular pop with advanced songcraft. Lead singer Linda Karlsberg will remind some of Lisa Mychols, but this Swedish band charts its own way. “Five Times A Day” has some Explorers Club DNA. “Don’t Need, Don’t Care” is brilliant and mesmerizing, evoking Marmalade Souls and again on “According To You.” Marmalade Souls harked back to the Mommas and the Poppas and The Cyrkle, and only put out one album. In Deed has some magic. They use a minor chord in “According to You” like dim mak, the death touch. It snaps your head around. They chime like Beatles and Byrds on “Song to You.”

Recommended.

CROMM FALLON: Electric Bloom (Rum Bar)

Cromm’s a minimalist channeling early Brit blues, particularly the Stones, Yardbirds, and the Animals. Cromm is a man of few notes. On “Second Bloom,” aside from a first verse, Cromm hits only two notes in his vocal. And it works. Primal punk/blues, the building blocks of rock. He snarls “Hired Suicide” in a monotone. You can just see this guy in some basement club with black-painted walls.

AMOEBA TEEN: Medium Wave (Big Stir)

English quartet practices stunning songcraft in the tradition of The Dowling Poole, The Bloodrush Hour and Secret Friend. “Babycakes” spins Beatlesque with its George Martin trumpet and McCartney bass. “Coming On Stronger” summons the brooding power of The Stars Explode. “Suit and Tie” is a vital slice of smart-ass punk redolent of both the Kinks and Billy Joel. They plant one foot in country rock with the CS&Nish “Ship to Shore,” and the elegiac “Hickory Hill.”

RAY PAUL: Bloody Rubbish (Kool Kat)

Longtime power popper Ray Paul, whose Whimsicality clocks in at # 193 in John Borack’s latest Shake Some Action, delivers stunning songcraft on this career retrospective spanning four decades, beginning with the Bob Gaudio like “I Need Your Love Tonight.” Ray covers a lot of territory, including the easy loping “Lady Be Mine Tonight,” which has rockabilly roots and Nick Lowe attitude, and the hortatory “Brekenhearted,” a shiny Transformer of a song that keeps unfolding until it climbs a tree and shoots off a Roman candle. Paul sings “Love Me” in a stadium-ready tenor. It’s something Journey might sing, only better. “Open Up Your Door” is redolent of the early British invasion, mainly The Animals and early Them circa “Gloria,” same rich territory mined by Cromm Fallon.