EDIT: LAST MINUTE INCLUSION!
Aiana
I'm sorry, but I couldn't in good conscience let this go by another week. Delightful Swedish novelty single, "Popcorn Boy" by Aiana. Circus music still has so much to offer Swede-pop...so very silly. So very great.
Joanna
Joanna friended me several months ago and I was pretty sure I wrote about her then. But no. Her new album's on Geffen and she's streaming a cover of "Screaming Infidelities" by Dashboard Confessional, which answers the age-old question "What would Dashboard Confessional sound like if sung by the Wreckers?" Answer: better than Dashboard, but still shy of a good song. I will one day figure out why oh why Hollywood Records has chosen Joanna to include with their own stable artists on one of their transparent PR "entertainment sites."
Nicole M. Willard
I want to say that the goth elements in these songs stand out, and then I remember that I don't actually know anything about goth, except what I've heard of it from Kelly Clarkson (and maybe Cradle of Filth or something in college). "Call My Name" sounds harder than Linkin Park (which it maybe sounds a little like?) but she's not afraid of layering on some harmonies. Nicole sez: "Ummm.... kind of Nine Inch Nails meets New Kids On The Block." Not quite, but that's the spirit maybe. Both ref's need updating, maybe Evanescence meets the Veronicas? Can't tell if her BSB "influence" is sarcastic or not (it's not that far off, even if she means it to be).
Kim Kline
D-don't stop the angst-rock, sort of Gwen Stefani vocals with music that seems to be swinging between Red Hot Chili Peppers and teenmetal. At least RHCP comes through in the guitar line to "Karma," which isn't as good a karma song as Jena Kraus' "Both Dads R Dead Dogs," which doesn't actually use the word "karma."
Eleventyseven
Well, someone finally wrote the pop-punk Myspace anthem. It's these guys. Kind of stupid, something to the effect of "the only thing 'real' about you is your MYSPACE? GET A LIFE!" Not the most effective message to convey in the song designed to get your boring-ass band noticed on MYSPACE. "God, this whole site is so phony and so are you! ADD ME!" If that guy thinks his Hanson shirt is funny or something, he clearly hasn't met the Jonas Brothers. BOY BAND IS THE NEW PUNK! Wait, no, punk is the new boy band.
Jami Ross
Pretty good Michelle-style lilting lite confessional. "Confused" is the competent "Complicated" wannabe, the others are pretty good, too. This is the first time I've seen Flyleaf listed as an influence (I kind of wish it came through more). Jami Ross is a little late for this style...might explain the new-waved dancey number "Situation," getting closer to the new Lillix album but too powerpop to be emo.
Mischa Stimac
Hawaiian teenpop that is not HOKU. I'm a sucker for this stuff, even though I rarely like it! Must be something about the climate that compels artists to write very slow, very pleasant, very non-Hawaiian-sounding songs. Decent slow breathy adult contempo balladeering, doesn't register for me but would probably sound OK in a romantic comedy soundtrack.
Joanie Leeds
A little bit of Skye Sweetnam, sharp but not as sharp as Skye (or Katie Neil). "Bad Girl" joins of the ranks of several other bad girl songs, a touch of Amy Studt in the big-for-britches chorus "don't make me out to be some stupid innocent adolescent instrument."
Faces Without Names
Apparently an up-and-comer on the Camplified tour, where Skye and Fefe and a few others got their start. Nice idea, an extensive summer camp tour...nothing particularly notable about the music (twin/M2M alert: in "Versions of You," singer laments that she has to choose between, YES, two versions of you!), but there is a notable online contest. NAME THE FACES WITHOUT NAMES! THEY'RE JUST FACES! THEY HAVE NO NAMES! SO GIVE THEM NAMES! (Details under "contest" at their site.)
My choices:
Faces With Names
J.J. TAN (first intials rearranged)
Radiohead
Pink Bulldozer
The Kelly 5 ('cuz influences = Kelly + Maroon 5!)
The Quints (first album: Quintpop)
Next week: genetically engineered teenpop!
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