my power pop addiction, no. 133 (205)

Although Brad Jones is known mostly as a producer and engineer, his Gilt Flake is not to be missed. The album, recommended to me by a friend here in LA, is a stylistically varied, under-the-radar pop feast from the mid 90s, and I’m very impressed with its sound and vibe. The unpredictable melodies are very much in the spirit of the British Invasion, with great guitars, plenty of tambourine, and lovely harmonies, yet the song structures are also unpredictable and keep you on your toes. The uniqueness of Jones’ high singing voice also adds a welcome element of surprise. The thing I’ve come to realize with this power pop addiction of mine is that after you’ve peeled away the more obvious outside layers – the Cars, the Knack, the Raspberries, Dwight Twilley, Todd Rundgren, Cheap Trick, etc. – and once you start to go deep, you discover that there’s a seemingly inexhaustible supply of music available to you. Gilt Flake is yet another brilliant vista point along the path of infinite pop, and Brad Jones is another pop lifer whose songs leave you with nothing so much as the desire to hear more…