ALAN BOYD
Channel Surfing (Boyd Productions; CD)
     He's made his mark as a Beach Boys documentarian (being nominated for a Grammy for his film, Endless Harmony) and archivist (the excellent Hawthorne, CA). But many Beach Boys die-hards may be surprised to know that Alan Boyd is a fine singer/songwriter as well, as his new CD, Channel Surfing, would attest. Channel Surfing is a collection of tunes Boyd has recorded over the past 15 years (his 15 Big Ones, so to speak), all of which show both a devotion to and acumen for that timeless harmony sound.     Boyd can handle just about every style in the Beach Boys ouevre, from the classic early sounds of 'Down South (In San Diego)' and 'Channel Surfing' (that's TV, not English) to the Today-styled 'Be Her Friend', the nascent Love You charm of 'Busy Doin' Something' to the Smile-take on 'Hawaiian Rhapsody'. However, the most striking feature in his repertoire is his spot-on Wilsonesque vocal delivery, most prominently featured on the beautiful paean, 'Everybody's Waiting', easily the most authentic impression of Brian you'll ever hear, and 'Beach Boys Britain', which was specially recorded for the UK Beach Boys Fan Convention of 2002.     He also displays a subtle sense of humor, which often comes out of nowhere in the midst of some striking musical passages, as it does with the phrase “freezing my balls off” on 'Too Damn Cold'.
     Boyd is a true renaissance man and a genuinely good person as well, but you'll want to own Channel Surfing because the music is, to paraphrase one of Boyd's titles, too damn good.
www.boydproductiongroup.com
David Bash

CHEESE
Enlarge Your Johnson (Pink Hedgehog; CD)
     Their first album may have been called Let It Brie but that doesn't mean Cheese aren't serious about their pop music. Cheese is essentially Marco Rossi, who wrote and recorded this follow-up with a little help from Al Strawbridge and Rich Murphy of fellow Dorset pop oddballs The Lucky Bishops and drummer Chris Page. The whole thing has a strong band feel despite so much of it being cut “in our sheds and attics” in a one man band stylee.
     Lord alone knows why Cheese have been inexplicably tarred with the powerpop brush as this is a collection of intelligent, heartfelt pop/rock songs more akin to prime Roddy Frame or Paddy McAloon (not surprising given Rossi's Caledonian heritage and membership of The Kevin McDermott Orchestra) than some Ricky-wielding Costello or Weller fan boys. That said, 'Zero And Counting You Down' and 'W' rock rather ferociously and compliment the impossibly pretty 'Sea Fret' and the heartbreaking 'Nothing To See' perfectly.
     Edam fine.        
www.pinkhedgehog.com
Andy Morten

THE COFFIN LIDS
Rock 'n' Roll (Bomp; CD)
     A man's gotta have a dream. Head Coffin Lid Mike Feudale has two: the rawk and the living dead. Hobbies? He don't need no stinkin' hobbies, as long as he can write about 'Nite Of The Zombies' and 'Vampire Girl' or do covers of 'Pipeline' and 'She Lied'. The Meteors and The Misfits shared similar obsessions but not the Ventures-on-crack sound of this lot. Just when I'd feared the last few Bomp discs released in Greg Shaw's lifetime would all turn out to be duffers, they've saved the day. Huzzah!
www.coffinlids.com
Jane Farrell

THE ELECTRIC
Degenerotic Doses (Pro-Vel; CD)
     Gave this album a final pre-review listen at the old homestead in the presence of my parents. My stepfather immediately condemned it as “rubbish” whilst my mother began doing a strange jerky dance around the kitchen, like one of Kraftwerk's robots possessed by the spirit of Iggy Pop. Now that, kids, is a rock 'n' roll result. The Electric (whose contact address suggests they've bowdlerised their name from its original version , The Electric Sluts - the wusses!) are from the Missouri side of St Louis and hawk a distinctively Mid-Western style of punk. Lux Interior has his own Mini-Me in the form of lead singer Jason Wallace Triefenbach, and at least half the songs sound like 'Ass Casserole' by the Cheap Dates. Clearly they're never going to attain the heights of much-missed masters of this genre, the immortal Problematics, but nonetheless it's a cracking listen.
www.the-electric.com
Jane Farrell

THE EMBROOKS
Yellow Glass Perspections (Munster CD / LP)
     Together with the Solar Flares, The Embrooks are just about the best UK (and Italian!) sixties style group around. Their second LP Our New Day left me gagging for more and it's been a long time coming with only a couple of singles to gnaw on in the interim. However, anyone who dug Our New Day's full-on freak beat approach will not be disappointed with this latest offering. Indeed, Yellow Glass Perspections picks up where the previous long player left off and then some. Here, The Embrooks have both developed and consolidated their sound (and it's a big one for a three piece) adding a strong psychedelic aspect to the general freak beating. Lois Tozer's space-filling drum style makes her something of a female Mitch Mitchell (Michelle?) for the noughties, Mole's singing and bass playing are more confident than ever and Alessandro Cozzi Lepri's lead and rhythm guitar blisters all over the place. A self-produced US only CD single comprised of the Mike Stuart Span sounding 'Back In My Mind', a cover of the Span's 'Children of Tomorrow', 'A Note In My Drawer', 'The Time Was Wrong' and their cover of Gary Walker & The Rain's 'Francis' finds its true home here (their Circle Records 45 'Jack/Dawn Breaks Through' is also very much worth seeking out). Of the other tracks, they start as they mean to continue with 'Happy Fickle Girl' which is a mighty statement of intent. The psych quotient is notched up in 'The Twisted Musings of Sir Dempster P Orbitron (Deceased)' which has a touch of the original Electric Prunes about it, quite an American sounding late sixties type track. 'Emilia Burrows' is a superb attempt at capturing a British, early Floydian aesthetic and a classic false ending segways majestically into a great cover of The Attack's 'Feel Like Flying'.
     This is the Embrooks' time and this is quite possibly their definitive statement, they never sounded better, buy with eager anticipation!
www.munster-records.com
Paul Martin