Dave's Den

Being a Brian Wilson fan can sometimes be an exercise in frustration. While he has few equals at producing beautiful music that touches you at an emotional level, he's also capable of churning out embarrassing clunkers as well. His last album of new material, 2004's Gettin' In Over My Head, was entirely forgettable. His soon-to-follow reconstruction of Smile, however, was a triumph at every level. So it was with some trepidation that I approached his new release, That Lucky Old Sun. Would some of the Smile magic linger, or would this be a return to mediocrity?

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This is a great song from Suburban Songbook by Bob Evans:

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I saw a writeup over at Absolute Powerpop on the new release from The Galaxies, called Here We Go!. I downloaded the MP3 version of the disc from CD Baby for $7.99, and I have to say that, although it's early, it's gone right to the top of my "Best of 2008" list. I'm a sucker for power pop in the vein of Cheap Trick, and this disc delivers the goods. Lyrically, they're tamer and more mainstream that Cheap Trick, but there's nothing wrong with a disc full of songs about love, especially these days. Musically, there's not a bad song in the bunch. It's a very melodic collection with the extra kick-in-the-pants you get from a driving guitar. I've had it in endless repeat mode on my iPod for the last few days, and it's still growing on me with each listen.

Samples at CD Baby

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