More Awesome Stuff from Tim Boykin

[While incessantly listening to The Cars, I surprisingly find myself being able to concentrate on some other music, too. Temporarily, that is…]

Tim Boykin rocks. He knows what great bubblegummy pop should sound like. That is beautiful melodies, loud and jangly guitars, huge harmonies, extremely fresh and chirpy vocals - exactly what we find on The Lolas’ 2004 album Something You Oughta Know.

There are many excellent tracks on this album. I can’t help loving songs like Dana the Chromium Girl, Plenty of Dogs, and It’s You I Want. On Little Deedra Timmeh & The Lolas totally sound like Silver Sun, a British band whose debut album is one of my all-time favourites. Light Up Every Doorway and Something You Oughta Know are oh so pretty. Tim’s Mom is also awesome. Can’t hear what Tim is actually singing, but I guess it isn’t necessary. Listening comprehension is the worst section in my English skills.

Something You Oughta Know contains 15 tracks. Usually that is too much, because albums with more that 10-12 tracks and not a single redundant one are very rare. Unfortunately, this album isn’t one of those perfect creations. There are some tracks that don’t seem to be so very good. But, as always, should we care about the bad sides when we have those amazingly fresh and perfect other songs? We probably should. Please, dear pop songwriters, no more fillers/weaker songs!

Hmm.. I really don’t think we should be so strict. In fact, the whole concept of favourite songs leads us to find certain songs less good than some other songs. If you like a specific song more than some other, you will probably think that the latter is.. not as good as your favourite. Then, those songs that you think aren’t so good might be considered very good by somebody else (who loves them). Man, this is difficult! And I’ve been dreaming about becoming a rock/pop critic…

Maybe I’ll just continue listening to The Cars. That is pure heaven… (until the weaker tracks come – fortunately, I haven’t found many of those yet!)

The Lolas website

Shamelessly Solid Pop

Sometimes I find great CD’s when I listen to those cool power pop radio stations at www.live365.com (e.g. Power Pop Jangle Radio, Power Pop Guitars SFSB and d23 Power Pop Plus). The sound quality isn’t the greatest, but you get the point of the songs you hear.

So, I tend to make notes whenever I hear something exceptionally interesting. I occasionally check my markings and see if they’re available on CD for a reasonable price. This is what happened with me and The Shame Idols. I heard their song She’s on the Phone, and for some reason thought it was really, really good at the moment. Then, I got the entire Rocket Cat (1998) album, listened to it and was happy about what I heard.

Most of The Shame Idols members have a background in a punk band called Working Mothers, and their singer-songwriter Tim Boykin used to be a part of the alternative rock band Carnival Season. What these guys have come up with is pop music characterized by loud guitars, great melodies and some pretty good harmonies. I think this solid guitar sound quite brings Weezer to mind. Many of these songs are nicely uptempo and give some nice pop-punk vibes.

I think Rocket Cat is generally different from many other power pop albums. That is because this album contains hooks but they aren't as obvious as power pop hooks usually are. However, I don’t find that a bad thing at all. There is something uniquely charming about these songs. What makes this music very enjoyable is the combination of great guitar sounds and the overall smooth and easy-going spirit. So, although this music is very loud and rocking, it might even manage to make you calm. Also, you will notice that the melodies are playing in your head once you've listened to them a couple of times.

Every song on this album is enjoyable, and the song running order is great. She’s on the Phone is obviously very good but it’s also very easy to pick up such favourites as Neon Geyser, Picture of a Clown, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, My Star and I Don’t Trust You. I’m sure that many people would find this music a bit dull and monotonic but personally I don’t really support those views. Good songs, sounds and melodies make this CD a great purchase.

The Shame Idols at MySpace