Doctor Mother Father - Feelin' Fine

 

There have been a couple of really interesting and refreshing articles about Power Pop. Mo Troper discussed at length, the problem of the genre and Steve W. Lauden discussed the effect of Pop Punk on the scene. I had left the noise behind a lot, the Is It Power Pop? brigade and rubbishing of new bands left me cold. 

I wasn't the only one as previously Power Pop writers either left the scene or rebranded what they do as Pop or Rock. I've always been a big supporter of Pop Punk, particularly in its closeness to Power Pop and the best of Powerful Pop now is seemingly coming from that direction. I don't mean the robotic talky vocals of the old brigade, but the new breed of the melodic voice.

Cory Bonnevie's Doctor Mother Father could never be described as Pop Punk, but the noisier riff laden offerings provided are possibly a big part of the future of Power Pop, something unimagined by the militant stalwarts on Facebook groups would never have dreamed of. It may be that Power Pop can survive as a mixture of the noise and the calm. 

Doctor Mother Father's second album is a wonderful noisy riff laden affair, incredibly melodic without losing its rawness. The debut album, Catholic, was a solo affair and a great listen, but this follow up shows the benefit of the live band recording Feelin' Fine. 

The album has lost none of the gritty edges, but provides a cohesive, almost Power Trio, effect to the recordings. If you were a first time listener, you may not have got that impression at first. The opening 25 second track gives the impression of Space Rock. The second song, Cut The Noise is almost Alt Country sleaze. But.................

...................just over a minute in, the song just takes off and bursts out into riff laden joy and sets the scene for a real fist shaking sing along. Wish You Didn't Know is classic Power Pop and even the noisier, shouty, Wealth Offers is graced by a diff all the way from UK New Wave 1979.

Not Much Sense even treads into gun slinging Country or Bonnevie's version of it which even gets a little grunge. However, Act I Like You could be Canvey Island Rhythm And Blues. Blame Time is Garage Rock Psych that wouldn't be out of place on the Rum Bar label.

For all the wall to wall riffing, there is still time for the magnificent closer, Trying To Mend A Repeating Theme is largely a restrained melancholic brooding joy and shows that there is far more to the band than out and out pace. 

With the usual embedded selection of three songs, I have attempted to show the range of Doctor Mother Father. A full listen to the album reveals the hooks and melody. I urge you to do that. This is yet another tick many ticked boxes of the Canadian Music Revival of recent years. Highly Recommended!

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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