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Astropop 3:
Allies and Stepping Stones
When you think about why corporate radio sucks, what comes first to mind? Formulaic music by the same old artists is one thing, but have you ever thought about its geographic effects? The Clear Channel monopoly manages to take a group of people as large as the entire United States and ensures that every person of a certain age demographic in the entire country knows who Nelly or Maroon 5 is, for instance. Your average FM listener here in Norfolk, Virginia probably has the exact same taste as your FM listener in Lansing, Michigan. Now the industry props up certain artists with popular flair, but when everyone hears the same thing, its bound to hurt our collective creativity when it comes to music. Im only preaching to the choir, because Allies and Stepping Stones, the new release by Astropop 3, is one of those albums that lots of people would really enjoy listening to if ever given the chance; but as it is, their hometown of Norfolk, VA seems typically oblivious to their existence. This is sad, because their music hits such a nice pop rock groove while still managing to sound fresh and adventurous; yet most of their potential fan base will just keep buying the same old Clear Channel junk. At this rate, the worlds of pop music and creative innovation will stay isolated forever. Im belaboring this point, because I dont imagine Astropop 3 will be the next indie band of the week either, like Books or The Fiery Furnaces, because theres hardly enough pretension on this album to please the snottiest of indie critics. What we have is catchy guitar melodies, a somewhat darker rhythm section, generally upbeat vocals, and a fabulous droning guitar in the background of most of these songs. Remember the last guitar note that Slash hits near the end of November Rain? Well Astropop 3 songs like Cubicles use this droning guitar effect as a bonus underneath what is already a fairly intricate rock song with more than enough melody to keep your attention. The result is a very comfortable sounding song with a bit of uneasiness mixed in. This adds up to a pretty killer track, and all ten songs on this release work well for similar reasons. Finally we have a rock band that claims to be influenced by musicians like the Police and various Brit-poppers, and an album that displays some of the subtle tricks that youd hope a fan of these artists might pick up on. When female backing vocalist Angelique Everett steps up to the plate on songs like Fade On Your Own I get the sense that Im listening to a good Lush track, but a lot of the credit has to go to lead vocalist songwriter Dan Villanueva who really injects his sometimes simple lyrics with a warm sense of credible emotion. The whole album is really a pleasure from beginning to end, which brings me back to my rant. There should be a place in America for pop rock to be this good and challenging, and right now Astropop 3 is treading that lonely path between ear-pleasing rock n roll and indie perfectionism in such a way that music fans of both persuasions might think they are playing for the other team. Dont be fooled! You too can enjoy Astropop 3 if youre simply brave enough to judge them by their music and nothing more.
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