I Do Hear A Single Part 2

Mark Bacino - Not That Guy

It's great to hear that Mark Bacino is back. Pop Job and The Million Dollar Milk Shake remain two of the great Power Pop albums and it's been over six years since his last album Queens English. Mark has spent that time as a television, film and Ad composer, as well as producing and mixing for other artists and writing for music publications.

Not That Guy marks a return to the Power Pop that he is most noted for. This is the first of a number of planned singles and it hits all the right spots. It's jaunty catchy pop, the type we all love. Recorded with Jay Sherman-Godfrey and Joe McGinty at Sterling Sound, it's great to have him back and hopefully these singles will soon be accompanied by an album.

You can listen to Not That Guy here and buy it for the bargain price of 99 cents.

1881 - Action EP

I have my great friend Nick Fletcher to thank for directing me towards Burlington Vermont's 1881. This is their third EP from 2016, this was released towards the death of 2016. The previous two are Lights and Camera, so you catch the drift.

What we have here are a corking six songs that show off the versatility of the band. True, the vocals are set in the Pop department that we all love, but the songs veer all over the place. They could be Jellyfish, at time Explorers Club like and then it sounds like 60's Beat or even Country.

The most straightforward song is the opener, Not Quite As Good, but the real gem is the splendid, Give Love. I urge you to try out this and the other two EPs. A great find for me personally.





You can listen to and buy the EP here and then head to the earlier two to complete the set.

Mystery Jets - The Whole Earth EP

The Mystery Jets return last January after four years away was welcome and the offering, Curve Of The Earth is a strong one. Following up on this is this fine six track EP that leads with The World Is Overtaking Me from the album, but adds four non album songs.

All four additions are strong, particularly My Centurion. but The World Is Overtaking Me is such a strong song so I've gone with that as the one to listen to. Hopefully, the summer dates supporting The Maccabees will finally bring the paydirt that the band deserve.





The EP is available everywhere. You can listen to the EP, the album and loads of other stuff here.


Pezband - Waiting In Line EP

Don't get me talking about Pezband, keeping this to two paragraphs is hard enough, I am a true fan boy of all things Mimi Betinis. That Voice! Therefore I'm gobsmacked that this 12 Inch Vinyl Release from last year is still available.

Recorded in 1981 and previously unreleased, it reveals the last four songs from the band. Shockingly they couldn't get a deal to release the songs and so have relied on Frodis Record to do the right thing now. When you buy the EP, you also get a download code. This is Power Pop at it's very best.




You can buy the EP from Ray at Kool Kat here. You can buy the download at the likes of Amazon here.

Mimi Betinis - Music Sounds

One of the best bands in that second wave of Power Pop from 1977 onward were Pezband. Stop! Wait A Minute remains on of the great Power Pop songs, up there with the likes of Starry Eyes. My other half is as far removed from a Power Pop fan as you could imagine and yet that song is on her Spotify playlist.

Those three albums between 1977 and 1979 stand up with any of the New Wave breed and the band were fantastic live. The thing that shone most amongst the killer choruses was that Betinis voice, a thing of wonder.

The great news is that that voice is still in fine fettle and although it's been a long six year wait since 2010's excellent All That Glitters, it's well worth the wait because Music Sounds is a cracker of an album.

Pontiac is the most Pezband like, the album though is poptastic. McCartney-esque on Sound The Alarm, which has some great harmonies and a killer riff, wonderfully moody on Listen To Me, Funky on This Girl.

Palm Of Her Hand has a Merseybeat shuffle, Say The Word is a gem with it's Pilot like riff and the closer, There Is Love is almost Moroder like. She Wants You showcases his voice beautifully on a 60's singalong, Corinna could appear on any of those three Pezband albums and not be out of place.

The album has all those trademark licks and choruses, but most of all it has THAT voice.

Members of Pezband help out on five of the songs and the album is produced by John Pavletic, who produced Cover To Cover. You can find out more about the album here and also listen to 30 second song extracts before you buy from CD Baby. There is also a link to get the first single, Sound The Alarm, as a free download.

The album is also available from the likes of Amazon.