Tuesday Bazaar: Pop from Pop, and maybe for Pop

It's a busy Tuesday for releases -- and is it too early to have spring fever?

Top shelf

Pop Levi, "Return to Form Black Majick Party" (Counter Records): Maybe it's the way Pop Levi sings baaay-beee and hunn-neeee -- as if his black magic transported him to a time of AM radio and Sting Ray bicycles -- but the former bass player of British electropoppers Ladytron makes his revisionist rock work with sparkling guitar licks over chunky, fuzzed-out bass. Anything wimpier, and Levi's debut would deteriorate into the comic affectation with which it flirts; instead, it's a giddy romp through glam, jangle-pop, psychedelia and even bubblegum. Dads of a certain age will dig this album -- they're liable to muse over the punny "Sugar Assault Me Now" or comment that "Pick-Me-Up Uppercut" sure does remind them of the Foundations' "Build Me Up Buttercup" (1968). Others might find Levi's pinched vocals a sweet change-of-pace from today's ostensibly tortured singers, if those listeners can stop shaking their hips long enough to give it some thought.

Other recommendations

Richard Swift, "Dressed Up for the Letdown" (Secretly Canadian): Brilliant storytelling and gorgeous arrangements from the ex-Southern California purveyor of baroque- and ragtime-influenced pop. [See post of Jan. 15.]

Jesu, "Conqueror" (Hydra Head): English three-piece front by Justin Broadrick constructs another formidable wall of guitar, inviting the listener to pick out a wave and ride it. [Note: Jesu's show this week at Spaceland was postponed because of problems the band had obtaining work permits.]

Elvis Perkins, "Ash Wednesday," (XL): The singer-songwriter with a tragic backstory (his father was the late actor Anthony Perkins; his mother died on 9/11 when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the Twin Towers) works his way through it on a debut album that never gets squeamish, despite its sentimentality.

The One AM Radio, "This Too Will Pass" (Dangerbird): Singer-songwriter Hrishikesh Hirway lovingly marries electronics and acoustics on his fourth album of dreamy pop, the kind of record that is at home in your bedroom.

From behind the counter

[Today's tip comes from Michael Davis of Poo-Bah Record Shop, 2636 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena.]

Explosions in the Sky, "All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone" (Temporary Residence): Davis reports there has been a buzz of customer interest in the fourth album by this Texas band. Indeed, Explosions have earned a reputation for being one of the top purveyors of instrumental rock, and their inclusion on this year's Coachella bill caused a minor stir among fans of their shimmering guitars.

Comments

[Jeff]

Funny. I was just listening to that Pop Levi record and when it ended I clicked over here. it's some really good stuff. A little T. Rex knock-offish, but then again I love me some T. Rex. And hey, Marc Bolan's been dead 30 years, someone needed to come along and do that schtick well.

[Joe Fielder]

Looking forward to getting that new Explosions in the Sky. Damn.