We tune our radio dial today to throwback seventies pop, tuneful tableaus, melodic melodrama and hooky guitar noise. And with no need to change the station.

The Half-Cubes new album Pop Treasures is a monster of a collection, featuring 24 tunes that draw from 1970s and 1980s hit-makers and indie darlings in a lovingly relentless manner. At the risk of going all K-Tel on you, the hits just keep on coming here. Opening cut “Love’s Melody” sets the stage, barreling into the spotlight with an unstoppable 1970s pop punch. I can definitely hear The Searchers lurking in the arrangement of this Motors tune but the performance is classic Half-Cubes in its hooky intensity. But when the band switch to less well-known material like “Weakest Shade of Blue” from The Pernice Brothers they make that sound like a great lost hit single too. They’re just that good. Clearly I can’t touch on every tune here so let me point out some surprises and personal faves. Like their version of 10cc’s “The Dean and I.” This was the song that turned me on to that band and it’s not an easy cover, with its complex melodic turns and vocal arrangement. But the ever reliable Half-Cubes pull it off. Doing Phil Seymour’s “Precious To Me” was an obvious but no less delicious choice. Offering up a guitar-centric take on OMD’s “Souvenir” was a more bold move. You can hear a lot of thought went into the choice cuts included here, from Del Amitri’s still striking “Not Where It’s At” to the crashing guitar goodness of Cheap Trick’s “Heaven’s Falling” to 20/20’s understated guitar pop masterpiece “Jet Lag.” As an added bonus, The Half Cubes regularly share their spotlight with a number of the original artists. For instance, The Sighs entire band show up to join them on the re-make of their nineties hit “Make You Cry.” Pop Treasures really is an aptly-named assemblage of should-be hits in the best spirit of K-Tel party albums.

The title of Tamar Berk’s latest LP Good Times for a Change appears to drop a Smiths’ lyric on us with similar ironic intention. Good times don’t make for inspired art. So on solo album #4 Berk continues her journey into emotional and melodic complexity and where we end up is predictably impressive. Berk opens the record with a solid, should-be hit single. “Good Impression” flashes some Cars rhythm guitar shots so effectively I’d swear I was tuned to a 1981 car radio. This is some fabulous neo-new wave poprock. “That’s Not a Lie” is another single contender with its great vocal work. The rest of the record switches up tempo and moods, shifting through dance-able numbers like “You Trigger Me” to more contemplative efforts like “Chicago” which expertly builds its intensity throughout the performance, laying on more and more pop sheen. I’ve often compared Berk’s work to other smart and inventive female artists like Suzanne Vega and Aimee Mann and hear more that here, with the former echoing throughout “Book of Change” and “Millenium Park” or the latter on “I’ll Come to the Rescue.” There’s a playful feel so many tunes here, like the catchy ‘oh oh oh oh’s’ of “Be My Friend” or the languid shuffle on “I Don’t Mind” or the horns adorning “Artful Dodger.” Good times might be over-rated but Good Times for a Change can’t be rated high enough.

In the 1970s there was a fifties music revival that combined cartoonish hooks with a zany compressed sound that felt like it might go off the rails at any moment. You can hear it in the glam and Abba from the period and a host of deep cuts from 10cc. Add a strong dose of James Mercer’s clever pop sheen and things might add up to Glasgow’s The Martial Arts. The band’s new album In There Like Swimwear could be a time capsule from that era, except that it is much too smart and self-aware for those simple times. Opening song “Hold On Full Of Hope” gives you the flavour, riding its in-your-face melody with a bit of Elton John boogie in the background. “Empty Out There” keeps up the energy, sustained by some killer organ work. “The Attractions” strikes an Elvis Costello Armed Forces note, perhaps not surprisingly. “No Victory” was an early release single and it still sounds to me like an ice skating rink soundtrack number (and that is a very good thing). There’s so much to discover on this album, the songs are so complex and continue to reveal themselves on repeated listening. Songs like “Something in the Water” and “Exploding Crushing Inevitable” are so creatively put together, in totally different ways. Should be hit single? Definitely “Friends For Fools.” Those rhythm guitar shots are so alluring, only to break out into a beautiful melodic arc that just keeps stretching along new paths. It’s a perfect slice of melodic melodrama. There’s surprises here too. Like “Not Coming Down” which opens with a The The single synth note, only to move into a more Erasure-ish march. Then “Closing Number” offers a delightful sonic salad of varied sounds, ending with a banjo no less. Forget your bathing cap, In There Like Swimwear is actually gala entertainment.

On album number three (and second self-titled release) Teenage Tom Petties fade back from full band form to mostly just main man Tom Brown in his bedroom. But the results are still pretty rocking. The goal this time, says Brown, was to make an ‘alt-rock 90’s powerpop record’ combining influences from Fountains Of Wayne, Superdrag and Weezer with some ‘attempted Beach Boys harmonies.’ Tall order much? Yet Brown delivers and then some. “I Got Previous” has got a rough and ready DIY nineties vibe going. “Hawaiian Air” floats oh-so smooth vocals over bed of distorted guitars. Then “Kissed Me In Seattle” really is a pretty spectacular love child of all those aforementioned bands. Some songs lean more in one direction than another, with “Dumb Enough” very Weezer while “This Autumn Body” is so FOW. “Night Nurse” has got the urgency, crashing guitars, and pop hooks to be the single here. I could go on about every single song here (“Handstands for your Love” is sooo good!) but you’re getting the point. Give in to your longing for grungy 90s power pop and buy Teenage Tom Petties right now.

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Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr Collection.