kool kat musik Archive
04 Jun 2025
Hundred-word Reviews June 2025: Powerpop
Four recent releases in a decidedly powerpop vein. For those who enjoy that style, these guys all get it. All are recommended. And they’re available from Kool Kat Musik. Yours […]
25 Nov 2024
Hundred-word (Power Pop) Reviews, November 2024
For this round of Hundred Word Reviews, it’s a veritable feast – a panoply, a cornucopia… a surfeit, even – of power pop. Valley Lodge – Shadows in Paradise New […]
28 Apr 2024
Reviews: Five New Power Pop (or Power Pop-adjacent) Titles
Emperor Penguin – Gentlemen Thieves The hardest-rocking of these five new releases, Gentlemen Thieves folds in glam and other rock styles to create a memorable set of songs. A strong […]
30 Jul 2023
Album Review: Various Artists — Redrawn: A Tribute to The Pencils
Have you ever heard of The Pencils? Me neither. But as it happens, this band from Hertfordshire, England made some exuberant powerpop in the very early 1980s. For their trouble […]
24 Jun 2023
Album Review: The Mosquitos – This Then are the Mosquitos!
Hey hey, remember the Monkees revival of the ‘80s? MTV rebroadcast the classic ‘60s musical comedy series, and included bumper segments featuring the band (well, Micky, Peter and Davy, anyway). […]
07 May 2021
Album Review: The Boys With the Perpetual Nervousness — Songs From Another Life
Something about this outfits name immediately brings to mind the gentle approach of bands like Belle and Sebastian. And as it turns out, that snap judgment isn’t too wide of […]
21 Nov 2020
Hundred-word Reviews for November 2020, Part Two
Here’s five more quick reviews. Powerpop, ambient, jazz and more. Nick Frater – Fast & Loose The title might lead the uninitiated to suspect that Nick Frater’s album is something […]
14 Jul 2020
Album Review: Coke Belda — 4
If Peter Noone was American, his singing voice might be all but indistinguishable from that of Coke Belda. And the music that Herman’s Hermits made isn’t miles away from the […]
13 Jul 2020
Album Review: Diamond Hands — III
Fans of hooks and high-energy, melodic rock should stop whatever they’re doing and make immediate purchase of this LP. Diamond Hands’ III is influenced by mid-period Beatles, but it also […]
13 May 2020
Album Review: Råttanson — I’d Much Rather Be With the Noise
Nervy, high-octane powerpop is the chosen style for Råttanson, a one-man project from just outside Stockholm. If you’ve discovered the remarkably consistent output from Swedish bands working in the powerpop […]