Joshua Powell’s 2018 release is a trip taken at the neighborhood pool or country lake on a warm summer day. Shimmering and bright, with a few gentle shadows that occasionally drift by from passing fluffy clouds. In one review they noted that the press release came with the claim that the record is “acid trip for the whole family.” The title Pyschotropic is absolutely an accurate description of the record’s sound. My top track is “Spirit of the Trailer Park” which has an anthemic vibe, but gently-so. Also great are “Arrowheads or Worse” which epitomizes the psych-dream vibe with a bit of jangle, the alt-pop flavor of “Bliss is a Flak Jacket” and “Ascension” which leans Americana/country with some harmonica and hints of twang in the acoustic guitar. A really excellent spin from start to finish for a lazy late summer afternoon.

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Calliope Musicals at Cactus Club 2019

Color/Sweat is almost as much fun as a Calliope Musicals performance – highly danceable, dreamy, swirly pop with an edge to the shimmer. I can’t believe it’s taken me almost 5 years to take a listen. Singer Carrie Fussell’s voice is beautiful, lots of depth with a soaring range and the rest of the band is having an absolute ball backing her. I’m sure they played a bunch of songs from this record in 2019 but I absolutely cannot remember which those would have been. Top tracks include the opener “Fear This Body” and the title track “Color/Sweat,” the all-out dance party “That’s Why We Dance.”

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Joshua Powell “Skeleton Party” 2021. Romanus Records. Limited edition (50 copies) tri-color variant. Dream pop with an edge out of Indianapolis. Whispers of psychedelia that one writer described as a “fever dream with experimental sounds weaving a story” (there’s theremin!) and lyrics that are intentionally poetic: Joshua Powell says “Songwriting is not very emotional for me. It isn’t a cathartic process. I look at it as academic or intellectual work. I want it to be beautiful and sound but I want it to be something I’m proud of as well.” (From an interview on Pattern) Despite having been written and recorded during the pandemic (Powell: “The world was a big hell mouth at the time of recording”), the darkness of Skeleton Party is far from depressing, more folky goth-inspired lush and dense with some swirly rainbow brightness glistening at the edges; the liner notes state that “this record has been certified as a magical artifact by all pertinent boards and covens of mages, clerics, witches and shamans.” My favorite tracks are the opener “Sad Boy at the Skeleton Party” (such a great title!), the danceable – and at times hard-rocking – “Coral Castle” and another guitar-forward, Pink Floyd-ish complex prog-rocker “Nine of Swords.” My only real criticism of Skeleton Party is the occasional use of autotune (i.e. at the end of the otherwise stellar song “Rainbow Trout“) of which I am never ever a fan.  We’ve seen Joshua Powell play live at least once – at Romanus Fest in Indy, 2018 or 2019, I can’t remember! – and I think another time, at Mile of Music maybe? We were hoping to catch them play again this year but sadly missed out when they came through our town. Powell and his crew did stay at my friend’s home after their Appleton performance this fall and she reported that they are the sweetest group of guys ever, great houseguests 😊

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Abby Jeanne “Somebody to Love” and “Stop and Listen” 2020. 7″ single, limited edition green splatter vinyl. This past weekend we got to see Abby Jeanne perform in her hometown neighborhood (and ours, too!) of Bay View, Milwaukee, at WMSE’s Backyard BBQ music fest.

It was her first performance and visit back to MKE since she moved to NYC just before the pandemic. The night and her concert were perfection. It’s not often that you find yourself in a magic moment and realize it while it is happening but Saturday night at Humboldt Park was one of those special times. The photo below doesn’t do any justice whatsoever but the sun had just set, the heat of the day had broken – just a lovely warm breeze (and no mosquitos biting!), we were in the company of friends and neighbors with Abby’s clear, bluesy voice soaring through the atmosphere.

She performed songs from her 2019 full-length album (Music Box Dancer), debuted brand-new songs, and sang these two covers. “Somebody to Love,” originally by Jefferson Airplane (1967) is a faithful, summer of love psychedelia rendition, though Abby somehow manages to both recreate Grace Slick’s crystal-sharp voice and infuse her own warm, bluesy range into the vocals. “Stop and Listen” (also from ‘67) is a cover by Milwaukee’s own, The Shag. It’s garagey pop, delightful and danceable.

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