Baby Lemonade - The Best of Baby Lemonade (2015)

I know Baby Lemonade because they play as Love Revisited or The Love Band when backing original songwriters and founding members of Love, Arthur Lee and Johnny Echols. My admiration for this band is already through the roof given the professionalism and passion they approach playing as Love. Funny thing? I have never really heard one of their records. This is my first time listening to them as a stand-alone band. This CD is a "Best of.." so it gives me a nice little introduction to the music that they recorded over 4 albums.

Well, the CD opens with just a stellar track called Greenboat. To my ears, just a stone cold classic indie pop song. As far as I am concerned, discovering this song instantly made me feel that buying this CD was a great deal. However, that is not where the goodness ended. The next 11 songs are up to par if not as stunning as Greenboat. For instance, listen to the tenderness of the song World Lines, or the frentic Pop Tarte. Overall, great compilation that requires that I seek out all of their previous albums. You should as well.

Grand Atlantic - This is Grand Atlantic (2006)

Within the last year or so, I went through the Popboomerang catalog of music and ordered all those CDs that were listed as power pop/melodic guitar pop or indie rock. Scott Thurling, the mastermind behind the label also helped me in finding the right music to buy. I ended buying around 20 to 25 CDs. Grand Atlantic is one of those CDs I purchased. What a find!

I do not know much about this Australian outfit other than they are very good. They definitely are melodic but I get the sense they are bit moodier than the typical "power pop" band. In listening to this CD I am hearing more of a Posies or Gigolo Aunts vibe. In fact, I just checked with Scott Thurling on Facebook to see if my characterization is wrong and he says "No, You are not wrong!". So, my ears are still working well. : ) To get a sense of what Grand Atlantic is doing on this release (their debut), listen to gems like Wonderful Tragedy or Until It's Gone.  I also loved Take You For Granted. If you like a little more muscle to your pop, listen to Missile Crisis which to me sounds more like another great Australian band called You Am I. Overall, this is an excellent CD and recommended.