The Easy Button - Through Our Own Parade

 

Tampa quartet, The Easy Button return after their previous album, Lost On Purpose reached the dizzy heights of Number 2 in IDHAS's 2021 Best 100 Albums Of 2021. It's a wonderful album and you can read the review here. 

Our aim is to bring new listeners and fans to the great Indie artists around and maybe the 22 songs on that album was a little too many as an introduction to new listeners, but those songs were well worth the investment of time.

The number here is halved and 11 songs is the ideal number to fully appreciate how great the band are. There are also other changes. Although the base is still essentially 90s Power Pop, the riffs, choruses and sheer melody are as great as ever, there is a notable change in the way songs are produced.

These gems seemed more focussed, more consistent and direct at times. They can still out Weezer, Weezer, particularly on the magnificent Light Went Out. Their Power Pop chops are as strong as ever, notably on both the urgent Mansions and the even more urgent Big Bad Love.

They even get a little Maple Mars with the anthemic At The Edge Of Time, maybe even a poppier Teenage Fanclub at times. But there is also room for some great 70s - ish Pop Rock. Valley High Junior Prom is a reminder of those great 70s UK Pop Rock albums with a hint of Glam Rock too.

Don't Take My Keyboard Away is even a lighters out big sounding closer.  Brian Jones one of the great Guitar Pop songwriters and continues to deserve far more recognition. Through Our Own Parade is a feel good sing along joy. Absolutely Splendid!

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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I Don't Hear A Single Albums Of The Year 2021 : Top 10

01 The Orange Peels - Celebrate The Moments Of Your Life       IDHAS Review

02 The Easy Button - Lost On Purpose       IDHAS Review

03 Chris Church - Game Dirt       IDHAS Review





04 Andy Bopp - AB      IDHAS Review

05 Ian McNabb - Utopian       IDHAS Review

06 The John Sally Ride - Now Is Not A Great Time      IDHAS Review





07 Livingmore - Take Me        IDHAS Review

08 The Mommyheads - Age of Isolation         IDHAS Review

09 Spygenius - Blow Their Covers        IDHAS Review

10 Ward White - The Tender Age        IDHAS Review





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The Easy Button - Lost On Purpose

 

I adore Tampa's The Easy Button. The band is masterful in the way they weave their jaunty Power Pop with a real lyrical intelligence. Power Pop is often denigrated for the nonsense from fans who want to label it as one thing and the banality of the I Love You, Yes I Do, You Know Its True lyrics.

So when you hear an album like Lost On Purpose, you realise that the genre doesn't have to be like that. It can be varied and still charming. Power Pop should be fun and this is. 9 songs that all sound the same and a ballad is a template that too many use.

The Easy Button's base is very second half of the Nineties. A Fountains Of Wayne or Weezer vibe springs to mind, but there is far more variation to what they do than simple Guitar Pop. For instance, Ansty (Heavy Weather) edges right into Country with its hypnotic twang.

There is real thought and construction put into the songs, but if you want something riff driven, this lot can do that. Most people spent lockdown either moaning or strumming on an acoustic guitar. The Easy Button spent it perfecting these songs to offer up one hell of an album.

There are 22 songs here and I realise that is a lot of listening, All I can convince you of is that the quality rarely drops and variety is the keyword. You want Slacker Pop Rock, you have Forever Is OK With Me. You want intelligent jaunty Pop, you have When I'm Blue. You want something slower and moody, you have ReRun.

I can't tell you about all 22 songs, but there are some that deserve special mentions. Photograff is a belter of a song about a fictitious band, very Bleu, even more The Major Labels. It is so great that I'm gonna make Bleu aware of it. 

Learning To Drive is a slower affair, yet despite its melancholic vibe, it is incredibly melodic with a big harmonic chorus. The opening instrumental, BliSStered, is an unusual thing to start an album, but it is a joyous couple of minutes.

Finally, for all this variation, the song that hooked me most is She Doesn't Live There Anymore. It is more straight ahead and riff driven than most of the rest here, but it has everything in it that a pop song should including a great guitar solo.

A couple of the songs don't really work, but 20 / 22 is a top notch grade. I also consider Brian Jones to be one of the great unrecognised Pop Songwriters. Lost On Purpose is outstanding at what it does. Highly Recommended and definitely a contender for Album Of The Year.

You can listen to and buy the album here. Note the special package of 12 song LP, full CD, Bonus CD and download for just 25 dollars. You can also listen at the places in this link. 

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