Brad Brooks

For those of you who enjoy your pop on the baroque side, the new Brad Brooks album will definitely be your cup of tea. "Spill Collateral Love" contains a flood of orchestral and harmonic details with those guitar power chords. "Love on my sleeve" is a good track that recalls the hypnotically repeated guitar chords from Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)." This is followed by "Lathered in Cream," a bouncy, hook-filled classic slice of power pop and the obvious "single" on this album - unfortunately that's it for the high energy songs. The rest of the album takes a rather moody turn. It begins with the melancholic "Ex-stripper Librarian" that sounds alot like a great Stephen Trask show ballad. "The Loon of Altitude" and "Francis of Alaska" mixes a bit of classic piano and Vaudevillian styled narrative rock that recalls Jellyfish's best moments. In fact, Brooks sings his heart out on this album with an emotional resonance resembling Freddy Mercury or 10cc. I'm sure there is a full story connecting all these songs, with arcane run-on-sentence lyrics like, "..this town is a crazy playground of lost daisies are chaining...," I'll need to listen to it more. When we get to "The Sonic Twins" we get back to the classic Brad Brooks sound for a bit, before the album contiunes with the harmonica driven "Pleading Amnesia" that sounds like it would fit well on Pink Floyd's The Final Cut or any Guided By Voices album. The album ends with "Luxurious Latitude" a fitting music-hall styled ending. It's good to shake things up a bit and have power pop not so cheery, but very dramatic and visceral. Listen to this album streaming at Not Lame to hear it all.

- Aaron Kupferberg

WARNING - MACH II: Challenging, high-reaching music may be dangerous to your culture-dulled ears!

Okay, now that we have those public service announcements out of the way, let's talk about dangerous pop. Power Poppin' music that forgoes conventions, leaves behind simple accepted formulas and aspires to the tattooed indie rock crowd who has no idea that a Raspberry, a Jellyfish or a Big Star has everything to do with timeless music and nothing to do with fruit and stardom. Not Lame has a special deal going on right now for this amazing release, as well. Go to this link to listen to a stream out on this album and find out what kind of extra, exclusive goodies we have for you! Not Lame

So what does it all sound like? Well, if you are familiar with the works of Jon Brion's "Meaningless" you are heading in the right direction. "Spill Collateral Love" is work of big and beautifully sublime creations for people who want their music to comfort, enrich themselves - not entertain. The spirit here is intoxicating. The music moods are kaleidoscopic without being trippy because we're talking pop music and all the arrangements fit snug inside the vision. You can hear it above, in fact. ONE OF 2007's VERY VERY BEST, we are most serious on this one.

- Bruce Brodeen

On his singularly titled self released album "Sanctified Into Astroglide", Bay Area singer-songwriter Brad Brooks favors a complex approach - major chords, tambourines, acoustic and electric guitars, pianos, calloipes, third-year music theory chord progressions, and layers upon layers of sugary backing vocals - the end result of which is a very pleasant 13-song pop toothache. Brooks takes notes from '90s pop fiends like Guided by Voices and Matthew Sweet, but still holds old-school syrup-mongers like 10cc, Wings, Supertramp, and XTC close to his chest. "Sanctified Into Astroglide" is a promising recording from a rising Bay Area songsmith.
- Summer Burkes

Brad Brooks solo debut CD is an elaborate fusion of west coast baroque, melodic pop aesthetics and wispy psychedelia. A nice combination, and one that is rooted in the music of '60s and '70s Anglo-pop geniuses like The Zombies, 10cc and Wings, with just a hint of some modern practitioners, such as Chris von Sneidern and even Ocean Colour Scene. Upfront pop songs are at the forefront of the album, and Brooks is an accomplished writer, always engaging the listener with catchy hooks and clever lyrical twists. Much of the material is piano based which only adds to the '70s ambience and the best songs on Sanctified Into Astroglide - "Frosty Chronic Memories", "The Velvet Flu" and "Mildred Cross" - deserve a much wider audience. Rob Forbes (Leicester Bangs, UK)
- Rob Forbes

Brad Brooks: Spill Collateral Love (Mouth Magic)
Radiohead would dig Brooks. Lots. This really fine release drops out of the sky with songs that resonate like The Bends or Rufus Wainwright's simmering 1998 debut – thoughtful tracks packed with cool instrumentation, evocative, weirdly funny lyrics and an uncanny knack for making ears prick up. Brooks' gorgeous, powerful voice echoes Thom Yorke but has plenty of soft and jagged nuances all his own. There's nothing timid or withdrawn about Spill, which seems drawn from a much deeper well than most stuff out there. Lay some of the credit on producer/multi-instrumentalist Paul Hoaglin (The Mother Hips/Sensations) who gives everything a lush wash worthy of Lee Hazelwood or George Martin. A nice range of moods prevails, from the handclap rush of "Lathered In Cream" to the string-boosted corridors of "Hit Me Like A Smile." It's easy to see this becoming someone's favorite album. Brooks recklessly reaches into his own chest in an effort to grab your heart. Let him and you won't be sorry.
Prime Cuts: "Ex-Stripper Librarian," "Love On My Sleeve"
JamBase

- Dennis Cooks

And now for something completely different. Brad Brooks stretches the boundaries of power pop with Spill Collateral Love, a tour de force of different pop stylings that share the same level of inspiration. I've seen comparisons of Brooks to a number of different artists, with the consensus being that he's Freddie Mercury meets Guided by Voices. There's certainly an element of that in there, but there are several others that shine through. For example, the leadoff track "Love On My Sleeve" builds to a Rufus Wainwright via Thom Yorke crescendo that never wears out its welcome over nearly six minutes. "Lathered In Cream" is the closest to straight-ahead power pop, but it adds its own subversive GbV element as well. Other standouts include "The Loon of Altitude" (which starts off as a poppy-California-sounding ditty, only to dissolve into a "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" wall of sound, only to dissolve again into some ragtime piano with unintelligble whispers), "Francis of Alaska" (Freddy & Rufus again), the near-jangle of "The Sonic Twins", and the 40s-style crooning of the finale "Luccurious Latitude". Spill Collateral Love is the power pop equivalent of an art film, and although it my lack the immediate hooks that we normally deal in here, it's worth the effort to explore. Absolute Powerpop

- Steve Farra

An absolute dream of an album! The fecundity of Brook’s true blue pop gift will positively flood you the moment you press play. I am a sucker for eclecticism and Brooks provides variety in spades. And what blistering entertainment – from chamber pop to guitar pop to music hall to modern balladry to country-folk and so on… the instrumentation is world class: real strings illuminate the proceedings like a breath-taking sunrise.
Hyperbole aside – this is an essential album for every pop music lover. Encore, maestro!
KEY TRACKS: Love On My Sleeve, Ex-Stripper Librarian, Hit Me Like A Smile, Francis of Alaska
SOUNDS LIKE: Queen, XTC, the Beatles, Brian Wilson, Pink Floyd, Kinks, Jason Falkner, Radiohead Power of Pop


- Kevin Matthews