Addicted To Vinyl Musical thoughts from the open road, with headphones on

New Music: Vinyl Candy

For those of you that enjoy power pop, you'll know that we are in a good position to constantly discover great bands in the genre, thanks to resources like Not Lame Records, and similar websites, fanzines, etc.  Some of them make a good amount of noise, Sugarbomb for example. You might remember hearing this song in the Van Wilder movie, and several other movies in the couple of years that followed. This tune was tailor-made for movie use.  Unfortunately, Sugarbomb's career didn't really explode in the right ways beyond this song:

And then you've got Owsley. Two great albums, but the usual reaction if you mention this one to a music fan is "Who?" Criminal.  And that is the cross that power pop often has to bear - so much of the great music in the genre, goes nearly completely unheard by the masses.

Today's artist has nothing to do with the above two artists, except for this connecting point.  I got a copy of Land, the latest album from Vinyl Candy in the mail over the weekend, and I got that feeling.  Similar to the first time that I opened up packages to find Sugarbomb and Owsley albums, I could tell instantly that Vinyl Candy was a band that I would enjoy a lot.  The artwork was cool, and when I put the CD on, a lusciously full sound filled my car.  It reminded me of the first time that I heard the Owsley discs, and how impressed I was with the recording and production values.

You can hear album after album from major label bands that stick to the textbook methods of recording an album, and then you hear an album like this Vinyl Candy disc.  An album with seemingly at least 64 tracks of instrumentation and vocals, the kind of album that gives you a multi-tracked confirmation that headphone rock still exists in the minds of people besides yourself.  Surfing over to the Los Angeles-based band's Myspace page, they've got producer Jack Joseph Puig (Semisonic, Jellyfish, Weezer, Counting Crows) listed in their list of influences.  Nerd moment!

Scanning through the rest of their influences, you'll take note of a few more artists that have been known to use more than a few tracks in the recording studio.  Bands like Jellyfish, Queen, ELO,  and The Beach Boys.  But Vinyl Candy also count  Journey, KISS, and Van Halen as additional influences.  A diverse list of influences that combine for total ear candy of the best variety.

Land is a concept record that takes the listener on a journey, following one rock star's rise to fame, and the subsequent tumble back to earth.  Putting the concept part aside (especially for those of you that might hate concept records,) Land is just a solid record that I really enjoyed.  It's been a while since I've had a new power pop crush, and I think it's safe to say that Vinyl Candy will occupy that slot for the rest of the year.  And they're already working on their next release planned for 2010 release.  Can't wait.

Check out a tune from Land:

Vinyl Candy - Resurrection

Visit the band online here, and grab your own copy of Land.