The next album on the list is another one that changed my life and the way I perceived music. Will Owsley is the founder of a legendary powerpop trio called The Semantics, which featured Ringo Starr’s son Zak Starkey on drums. Their sole album Powerbill was only released in Japan and the band never got the break they sought for. You might think that this is the album I’m going to talk about - which I could have gone on about at length - but I’m going to focus on Owsley’s first solo album Owsley released in 1999.
The story as I’ve heard it is that he recorded this album in his home studio, which he financed by touring with Amy Grant. When he started shopping around for a deal a lot of labels liked what they heard but wanted him to re-record the album to make it sound “cooler” or something like that. Owsley refused and waited until he found the label that wanted to put it out as it was, and he was rewarded for his persistence with a grammy nomination for “best engineering”. Ain’t that great?
Anyhow, the album in itself is a masterpiece. Packed with powerpop gems, full of energy and beatle-esque songwriting, it had a great impact on me when I first heard it a year after it came out and inspired me in so many ways, changing the way I write music. “Oh No The Radio” might be one of the coolest opening tracks of all time, and “Coming Up Roses” is a song every songwriter would wish they’d written!
Unfortunately, only one track is available for listening on Owsley’s MySpace. But it’s the beautiful ballad “Sentimental Favorite” so there’s really no reason to complain. I’ve been searching YouTube for any kind of Owsley or Semantics clip withouth luck. If you readers happen to stumble upon a clip, let me know.
That’s right fakers! Just laid the last hand on 21 (!) tracks that we’ve been working on for the past two years. I’m mighty pleased with the result, gotta tell ya! Now all that’s left is to decide which of those will go on the debut album and which we’re going to save for the next one. Stay tuned!
The Genuine Fakes are:
- Joey Fake - lead vocals / guitars
- Morty Fake - bass / backing vocals
- Johnny Fake - drumkit / backing vocals
- Tommy Fake - keyboards / backing vocals
The Genuine Fakes is the new hope of powerpop in Sweden. Their songs are fueled by rock and catchy singalong melodies.
The band was formed in late 2005 in a basement in Södermalm in Stockholm. The guys; that shared a love for melodic pop and moustaches joined up and beautiful music came to be instantaneously. Influences from bands such as 90’s indie legends Popsicle from Sweden, The Posies, The Wildhearts, Fountains of Wayne, Weezer, Jellyfish, Cheap Trick and Pearl Jam, to name a few, were forged in a way that creates a unique sound in this day and age. You’ve got beautiful harmonies on a thick, powerful foundation of distorted guitars, Hammond organ, McCartney-esque bass lines and noisy drums. The instrumentation is raw and the vocals are as slick as The Beatles’ were in their prime. The band delivers three and four part harmonies that you haven’t seen or heard the likeness of live since the last Jellyfish tour in 1993. A concertgoer perhaps described it best: “It’s Popsicle-rock with Beach Boys harmonies!”
The creativity flourished and a whole album’s worth of songs were written over a couple of short months before it was time for the first gig in January of 2006. Since then the band has played most of the Stockholm rock clubs, such as Alcazar, Klubben and Stampen to name a few. The year was topped off with a critically acclaimed performance at the Rookie Festival in Hultsfred, handpicked as one of 30 bands amongst thousands of applicants.
In conjunction with the Rookie Festival the band released its first single, entitled “Star”. It quickly sold out and has been downloaded persistently on MySpace since then. The first full length album is currently in the making, and the band is shopping around for labels to release it at this moment.
The band has also recorded a couple of interesting covers. One is a Posies song called “Somehow Everything” which was released in the US on “Beautiful Escape: The Ultimate Tribute to The Posies” (Burning Sky Records). The other one is an original interpretation of Beyoncé’s smash hit “Irreplaceable”. It has become an instant live favorite, winning over even the most skeptical listener. Thestar.com describes it: “Proud members of the power-pop fraternity populated by Dwight Twilley, Big Star, Teenage Fanclub and the like, this Swedish band convincingly transforms the steely Beyoncé ballad into something that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Fountains of Wayne album.”
As a live act they’re a true force to be reckoned with. There’s a brand new band in town!
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