Reprint of Sound The Sirens Review of "Four Seasons" by Phil
Phillip E. Hardy | Huntington Beach, California United States | 11/10/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"During the spring of 2004, I acquired a copy of Doug Powell's Day for Night, which became one of my favorite releases for that year. Since I am a fan of Todd Rundgren and Utopia, I was immediately struck by how much he sounded like them. It was not only similarity of style but his material possessed the same high caliber of lyrical substance and musical quality. In a six-degree world of separation, it was no surprise to read that Powell's first record purchase included early Rundgren hit "Hello It's Me" and he filled the opening act slot for favorite's 1995 tour. After that, he was hired as a graphic artist by the former Utopia lead vocalist. Reducing degrees to minutes of division, in late 2004 Elliot Easton asked Powell if he was interested in replacing Ric Ocasek as lead singer for a reforming version of the Cars. Though the talented songwriter never got this opportunity, it is an interesting twist that his ex-boss Mr. Rundgren did. Using Ocasek as his muse, Doug wrote a set of six songs named "Car Tunes" for his latest disc called Four Seasons. Other tracks from this effort are from the artist's unreleased backlog including an overlooked Japanese EP recorded in 2001.
Four Seasons begins with "Feel for You", where Powell proves he is clever chameleon in capturing the essence of vintage cars by purloining their trademark synthesizer lines and channeling Ocasek's vocal approach. "Lies," maintains method continuity with quarter note groove, early 80's New Wave sound and interlocking syncopation. The harmonies and subtle twists on the simple chorus also grew on my musical psyche. "Fire and Ice" centers on drum machine and synthesizer bits while using rolling syncopation and ominous minor scale chord progression in achieving a darker sound than anything I remember by the Cars.
The section of the record called Venus DeMilo's Arms (hey wait a minute, she didn't have...) offers what I consider two of the strongest songs in "Bye Bye Magpie, sounding like what would happen if the Yardbirds morphed with Utopia and "But I'm Only Dreaming", a song with the pretty quality of material by Crowded House. Powell leftovers from a 2004 session called "Dolce Vita" are justifiably seeing the light of day. "Mary Annette" is particularly impressive with Carnival organ grinder music and an up tempo symbol clanging Oom-pah beat normally employed by a mechanical monkey.
Doug Powell is essentially a power pop songwriter in the tradition of Neil Finn, Squeeze, Oasis and the Posies that wears his influences proudly while forging his own distinctive approach. His gifts include an ability to create pleasing melodies and a quality lead vocal that allows him to realize his artistic canvas. Four Seasons is the work of a journeyman performer that understands just how to use his talents in that musical playground called the recording studio.
"
GREAT ALBUM!
FELPA59 | Montecchio E. Italy | 08/21/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Only a few words becouse I'm Italian and my English is so and so!
I'm a great Todd Rundgren fan and so I knew about Doug Powell and his music.
Today,on my car,I was listening to his last cd Four Seasons and I was really surprised.The songs were for different projects,so I have imagined it was a minor album(sorry,Doug!),but I was wrong!The six New Cars songs are very good,but are not clones:you can feel Doug inspiration!All the other songs are good too! Only the Christmas song is not in its right place,becouse it had to be on the Ringo Starr Christmas album:
I consider it a bonus track on a terrific Powell album I hope not to be his last!"
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1