Melvic Centre - Trawler

Some of my influential friends have been touting Melvic Centre's new album Trawler. Having given the album a few listens, I feel compelled to do some touting of my own. Seconds after pushing play, I found myself instantly transported back to the '90s in a way that practically gave me chills. Remember all those old college radio favorites who walked the fine lines between fuzzy alternative rock, emo-ish melodic punk, and noisy power pop? Well that's where Melvic Centre lives, and this Aussie foursome pulls off this sound to perfection. With Melvic Centre, it's not just the vibe. It's also the quality of the songwriting, which is first rate all the way through the album. The brainchild of vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Will Mitchell, Trawler delivers the perfect blend of punchy energy, mellow grooves, and infectious hooks. If you had told me this album was recorded 30 years ago, I would have had no reason to doubt you. Yet I wouldn't describe Trawler as a copy of past sounds as much as I would call it a reinvigoration. Sometimes these younger bands have a way of injecting something genuinely fresh into seemingly tried-and-true musical styles. Coming up with a filler-free 14-track album is a high bar to clear, but I can find no fault with any of these songs. This is that rare modern album that not only reminds you of classics from decades past but can also stand toe-to-toe with them. Hands down, this is one of the year's best long players.

-L.R.

https://melviccentre.bandcamp.com/album/trawler
https://open.spotify.com/album/0q9FAm4qNbPjNXyuvdhti4
https://eviltonerecords.com/product/melvic-centre-trawler-lp/
https://www.instagram.com/melviccentre/#
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091329802054

The Sino Hearts - Mondo Paradiso

Mondo Paradiso, the fifth album by international power pop sensations The Sino Hearts, continues the musical progression that was first evident on 2022's Lightening The Darkness and even more pronounced on 2023's Phantom Rhapsody. With each new album, Mocca Chung's songwriting shows greater development and a wider range of influences without losing its grounding in '70s power pop and punk rock. For this album, he reunited with guitarist Ned Moffit, whom he hadn't seen in nearly two years. The two then traveled to Brescia, Italy to record with the brilliant producer Brown Barcella. With Italian drummer Carlo Manzoni rounding out the lineup, The Sino Hearts created this absolute gem of an album. The band's origins as a straight-forward power pop/punk band now seem like light years away. As much as I like those early records (Leave The World Behind and Mandarin A Go-Go), this is clearly a case of a band that has benefited from finding its own identity and sound. 

While it's a power pop record at its core, Mondo Paradiso does not limit itself to any particular genre or defined musical style. Like the two albums that preceded it, this one seems to effortlessly merge the world's of power pop, post-punk/new wave, and modern rock. Also in the mix are a love for '60s pop, garage & surf rock, and even some Chinese and Italian pop. That's a unique blend of musical inspirations, and it all comes together in a way that's cohesive and satisfying. Even as he has matured and evolved as a songwriter, Mocca Chung has held to an approach that's melody-driven and very much rooted in pop classicism. He's taking inspiration from the past but truly aspiring to make something new, and Brown Barcella was certainly the perfect producer to guide the process. Even when it leans into '60s grooves, Mondo Paradiso sounds perfectly in place with the best of today's garage pop. Sonically, there's a sunny warmth to these recordings that really fits the material. "Taste of Romance" is dreamy pop bliss. "Dragon Lady," with its mix of surfy guitars, '80s synths, and power pop energy, encapsulates what The Sino Hearts are all about. "Revolver Club Stomp" is a throwback to the Badfinger/Big Star heyday of power pop. "Arkansas Valentine" is a pretty ballad — the kind of song that is becoming a Sino Hearts specialty. On "Viva La Heartbreak" and "Teenage Hearts," you get classic power pop and punk-pop, respectively. "Love Is Like a Catwalk" and "Whatever Is All the Time" show a softer touch, highlighting this band's flair for pure melodious pop music. "Peking Bikini" and "朝日総動員" close the album with a double shot of adrenaline, proving that this band can still rock with the best of 'em when it wants to. 

The secret for a band like The Sino Hearts (or any band in the punk/power pop neighborhood) is that you can keep growing and evolving your sound without having to throw out what already works well. With these last three albums, The Sino Hearts haven't lost anything that was appealing about their first two albums. They've just added more elements and more influences — and grown more skilled at executing the old elements. If you like this band doing power pop or punk-pop, about half this album will be exactly what you wanted. If you wanted this band to try new things, about half this album will be exactly what you wanted. If you, like me, were hoping for the best of both worlds, Mondo Paradiso is precisely that. This is the best Sino Hearts album by a mile. And even after five albums now, it leaves me hoping for more.

-L.R.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0M8kKr2HFPy58cJhcdgmN6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJlnLoUDaJI&list=OLAK5uy_kIq-bog7xVkG0wIzCzdhWyMUO_A-docQM

https://www.instagram.com/sinohearts/ 

https://www.facebook.com/sinohearts/

The Jive - Extended Play

When it comes to my favorite new bands I've discovered in 2025, The Jive is #1 with a bullet. And it's not just because they're from PA. The Delco-based duo released its debut EP on the streaming platforms earlier this year. Today, Extended Play gets a compact disc release on the mighty Rum Bar Records, and people ought to be dancing in the streets. 

The first time I heard this mini-album in full, I had to retrieve my jaw from the floor. So what is it that I like so much about these guys? I think it's that they embody what power pop as a style of music ought to be. Co-songwriters and singers Robbie Dixon and Joey Edwards aren't afraid to write massive, arena-sized pop hits. They don't take themselves too seriously, but they are quite serious about crafting earworm choruses and melodies that'll have you humming all week. When almost every other power pop band out there wants to be The Nerves or Big Star, these two sound like the sons of Rick Springfield. This record gives major early '80s rock radio vibes, yet at the same time it possesses an undeniable contemporary freshness. If you love early '80s power pop but are also glad to live in a world where Kurt Baker and Biters exist, this EP is for you. 

"Good Time Call," the first advance single, wowed me in a big way. But then I had to wonder: was this a great band or just a band with one great song? Extended Play answers that question emphatically. "Sherry Shakes," "Shoulda Known Better," and "The Song You Can't Forget" all could have just as easily been "the hit." And then on "Heart of Gold," the band goes full-on .38 Special with a chorus that explodes out of your speakers and enough guitar power to light up a small nation! The band's lyrics don't aim to be rocket science, but they're relatable and clever in a way that's highly enjoyable. You might learn a new pickup line or two from listening to this EP, so don't dismiss the educational potential of power pop. "Good Time Call" is one of my favorite things: a song that tells a story! Who can deny that "I found your number on the elevator wall/of the Taj Mahal" is a million dollar line? Spending the last minute of the song repeating the lyric "I found your number" over and over sounds like a corny idea on paper. But on record, it's pure gold. "Sherry Shakes" is a master class on how to build an entire song around a simple (but utterly perfect) guitar hook. And how can I not love a band that uses the lyric "cherry cake" in a song called "Sherry Shakes"? "Shoulda Known Better" is a timeless ode to lost love. You feel the sting in the lyrics, but the music is positively intoxicating. Another tune that tells a story, "The Song You Can't Forget," practically packs an entire rom-com into three minutes and 17 seconds. When these guys sing, "I'm the one who got that melody stuck in your head/I'm the one who gets you dancing around," they might as well be talking to you. That whole chorus needs to be on a t-shirt! 

There's a part in the new Billy Joel documentary where he refers to the songs he wrote for Glass Houses as "power pop" in the sense that they were intended to sound awesome in the large venues he was playing. I imagined all the power pop purists and gatekeepers becoming infuriated as he spoke those words. But if you think of "power pop" purely as a way to describe music, it kind of does describe Glass Houses (which might explain why it's an all-time top ten album for me). The Jive appeals to me because it's a power pop band in both the traditional sense and in that broader sense. Somehow Robbie Dixon and Joey Edwards have managed to make an EP that reminds me of sitting by the pool at ten years old and hearing The Cars and Cheap Trick playing on the radio without having it come off as consciously retro. There's something eternal and magical about a perfect three-minute pop song, and these guys get that. Major credit also goes to producer Dan Dixon and session drummer Takashi Takemura for their incredible work on this release. The obvious reaction to hearing an EP this good is to ask, "But can they do it for a full album?" Well, if you bet against The Jive, you shoulda known better. This is the best new power pop band I've heard in a damn long time.

-L.R.

https://rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com/album/extended-play

https://open.spotify.com/album/06uT898rFYUqaHp8NrQXJU

https://www.facebook.com/thejivepowerpop

https://www.tiktok.com/@thejivepowerpop

https://www.instagram.com/thejivepowerpop/

https://www.facebook.com/RumBarRecords
https://www.instagram.com/rumbarrecords/

The Prize - "From the Night"

How long have I been talking about how amazing a full-length from The Prize would be? Well, we're finally getting it! In the Red, the Melbourne-based group's highly anticipated debut album, will be out September 19th on Goner Records in the U.S.A. and Anti Fade Records in Australia. Drummer Nadine Muller and guitarist Carey Paterson remain co lead vocalists, and they're joined by guitarists Joseph Imfeld and Austin Haire along with new bass player Ethan Stahl (Chubby and the Gang, Loose Lips). In advance of the album, a new single called "From the Night" has been released. And what a tune it is! "From the Night" is the sort of straight-forward guitar-heavy rock song you rarely hear these days. It hearkens back to the '70s and '80s while still sounding perfectly in place with the red-hot Aussie garage/punk scene of the present day. If you're gonna have three guitarists in your band, you might as well use them! Pre-orders for In the Red are open now. Move quickly if you want the colored vinyl — or any vinyl at all!

-L.R.

https://theprizemelbourne.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-red
https://theprizemelbourne.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-red-usa
https://www.instagram.com/theprize___/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/38duacoKCmLCQwLBQscDgI
https://www.facebook.com/theprizemelbourne/

TA-80 - Open Late

Arizona's veteran punk rockers TA-80, at it since 2001, are back with another great album that's sure to be the party record of the summer. When it comes to Open Late, the title says it all. This is your soundtrack to good times after dark — delivering ten more tracks of rockin' and super-catchy punk rock. You know what I'm talking about: fun, anthemic music that begs to be played loud while you make your way from the roller rink to the basement show to the diner that never closes. Expect shredding guitars, shout-along choruses, and hooks that never quit. If you've been waiting four decades for a band to properly punk up Toto's "Africa," your moment has arrived. And how about a robust rendition of The Vindictives' "Alarm Clocks" with Mr. Nick Spoon guesting on lead vocals? Last year's Turn It Up! was a criminally underrated album release for TA-80, and now Open Late follows it with every bit as much enthusiasm, power, and charm. Any time I get dismayed about the state of the world, it's music like this I turn to. Having my face rocked off is almost always a cure for whatever ails me. If I had to pick one band on Earth that I'd most want to drink beers with, this would be the one. Load up on Pop Rocks & King Cobra tallboys and catch the first train to Tempe Rock City!  

-L.R.

https://ta80.bandcamp.com/album/open-late
https://open.spotify.com/album/1hPylTvgpBpISDHMdgKaRt
https://ta-80.hearnow.com/open-late
https://www.facebook.com/ta80band/
https://www.instagram.com/ta80band/
https://www.youtube.com/user/jaminta80

The Kowalskis - 30 Years Of Goofballs

And so here we are with something very special from Rum Bar Records! To commemorate 30 years of the world being fortunate enough to have The Kowalskis in it, a deluxe reissue of the band's debut album All Hopped Up on Goofballs is out today. Titled 30 Years Of Goofballs, this retrospective adds a whole slew of compilation tracks, album & 7" cuts, and unreleased tunes for a grand total of 25 songs. Go big or go home! 

To me, The Kowalskis have always been criminally underrated. They were playing old school punk rock with '60s girl group roots way before it was cool — paving the way for so many of the garage/power pop/punk rock 'n' roll bands that we celebrate today. They arrived on the scene with the musical and spiritual DNA of the Ramones, Blondie, The Dictators, and Devil Dogs coursing through their veins. Along side the likes of D Generation, The Heartdrops, NY Loose, The Turbo ACs, FUR, L.E.S. Stitches, and The Prissteens, they were at the forefront of an exciting new era in New York punk rock. The songs on this collection epitomize everything that was great about the '90s punk scene. The sound is raw, exciting, and super-fun. Close your eyes, and you can feel yourself in the pit at an all-ages show or imagine yourself in your bedroom littered with 7" records, print zines, and cassette demo tapes. You just don't hear music that sounds quite like this anymore. And what could be a more fitting tribute to '90s punk rock than a compact disc with 25 songs on it? Even if you still own your original copy of All Hopped Up on Goofballs, you probably don't have all those old compilations in your possession anymore. So having all these songs carefully re-mastered by Kurt Bloch and packaged as a single album is an absolute treat for fans. And if the '90s were before your time, or you somehow missed out on these songs the first time around, 30 Years Of Goofballs still comes highly recommended. I'd put the likes of "Sunny Sunday Hangover," "Not Surprised," "100% Fun," "Kiss Me One More Time," and "First Date" up there with the best songs of just about any pop-leaning punk rock band past or present. And covers of everyone from Blondie to the New York Dolls to KISS to Cheap Trick give you a great feel for what The Kowalskis are all about. 

I love that The Kowalskis and Malibu Lou have come full circle. In 1999, "First Date" was featured on the Melted Records compilation My So Called Punk Rock Life — one of the greatest punk rock comps from the heyday of great punk rock comps (seriously, check out the track listing on that thing!). And now The Kowalskis have joined the Rum Bar Records family. The greatest thing about being a music fan is that it's never too late to discover a band. So whether 30 Years Of Goofballs brings back fond memories of seeing The Kowalskis live or is your introduction to this amazing band, I declare that this is an album you need to hear and ought to own.

-L.R.

https://rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com/album/30-years-of-goofballs
https://www.facebook.com/kowalskisNYC/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0y3NTg8KnacQYLyCSOEDWb
https://kowalskis.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RumBarRecords
https://www.instagram.com/rumbarrecords/

The Beaten Hearts - 2010 recordings

I love that this blog has been around so long now that I can sometimes review bands I wrote about years ago and people will be like, "Who the hell were they?" If you've never heard The Beaten Hearts, that's okay. You get to hear them now! 

The availability of the 2010 recordings of The Beaten Hearts on Bandcamp ought to be a huge deal for fans of 21st century garage punk and Canadian punk in general. This was Brian LaManna's band in between The Valentine Killers and Phone Jerks. The lineup also included Derek Lounder and Jeremy O'Neill from Fear of Lipstick, former Teenage Hurricane and future Phone Jerk Tyler Boutilier, and the legend himself, Mr. Ray Auffrey. In retrospect, we can all wonder how in the world we ever forgot about a super-group like this! Perhaps it was because they only released two singles. Six of these songs were released on 7" records in 2011 (on Maladroit Records and the venerable Sonic Jett Records). Five have never been officially released until now. In my original review, I dropped all the usual band comparisons (New Bomb Turks, Humpers, Dead Boys, Saints, Teenage Head, Pagans) but also commended the quality of the songwriting. Listening back to these songs now, I'm noticing a melodic, heart-on-sleeve sensibility that reminds me somewhat of Pat Todd. 

While the importance of The Beaten Hearts as a precursor to The Phone Jerks or a hint of what a second Valentine Killers album could have been are cool things in their own right, the music would be worth revisiting even if this had been a band of nobodies. Brian's talents as a songwriter and especially as a lyricist are super-underrated, and there are more than a few gems in this set. When people are releasing fanatic bootleg compilations of 2010s Canadian punk rock a few decades from now, "Red Line Gurls" will certainly be a go-to cut. "Back to the Deadline" brings to mind Iggy Pop fronting The Saints and is a stone cold ripper. "(This Is) How It Ends," which Brian wrote about his mother's death, is the kind of powerful ballad that I wish more punk groups would have the nerve to try. Was there any doubt that Joel Jett, with his impeccable taste, was not going to pass up releasing these songs on his label? "Badlands," the A-side of the band's second 7", is a scorching homage o.g. Cleveland punk rock with lyrics inspired by Terrence Malick's classic film. "Rhonda Lynn" is excellent poppy garage punk rock 'n' roll that will get your toes tapping and your head bobbing. "AM Sound" finds the band again worshipping at the church of The Saints, and who's going to complain? "She's Stimming Outta Control" is the original version of a song that would become one of the best Phone Jerks tunes. This is a hugely personal and significant song for Brian, and the world is a better place for having it in it (twice). 

How crazy is it that these songs were recorded 15 years ago? I am happy to report that they hold up great in the light of 2025. I know we live at a time in which there's so much stuff out there. There are more things to listen to than we have time to listen to. But if you dig soulful garage punk with a '90s feel and a power pop heart, The Beaten Hearts are an essential listen. I'm always talking about how Canada freaking owned punk rock in the early 2010s, and this album ought to be part of that conversation.

-L.R.

https://beatenhearts.bandcamp.com/album/the-beaten-hearts-2010-recordings