Power pop is fundamentally music written for the radio that nowadays plays nowhere near the radio. The talented
Doug Powell handles multiple instruments and technical aspects, but more importantly writes simple pop songs. For
Curiouser,
Powell recorded "flaws and warts" onto an eight track and released the raw product in an attempt to emulate the freshness and excitement of spontaneity and creation. Surprisingly,
Curiouser is not raucous or noisy, but a solid pop record. The sound is fine and the songs are well-structured enough to avoid that demo rip-off feeling. If the liner notes didn't indicate the rudiments of this experiment, none would be the wiser. Of course the project reeks of evil-genius
Todd Rundgren, but the tunes are unmistakably
Powell's. "Just Like Montgomery Cliff" shares a strange celebrity fascination with
the Clash. Powell's former Nashville neighbor,
Cheap Trick's Tom Petersson, helps out on "When She Awoke" (later laid down with the rest of Swag). The great piece "Torn" also graces the excellent Nashpop collection. "Cross My Heart" exudes pure obsessive romanticism: paralyzing and fascinating. Sometimes
Powell's forlorn feeling recalls
Freedy Johnston, but with better vocals.
Curiouser actually gets better as it rolls. Don't see
Doug Powell shooting up the charts, and of course he deserves much more credit than he'll ever get, but, in a perfect world, he rides the top of the pops. ~ Doug Stone