[ add to basket ]

BOOMERANG)- I read a few rave reviews of this cd then whammo, it comes barreling out of my po box and into my brown Trader Joes bag that I bring to the post office to pick up my mail and the reviews were right, this one is a doozie. For all of you out there that were blown away by The Red Button cd from a year or two back well this is just as good if not better. Leader Whitehead , of this Aussie quartet, plays piano and sings and he has a lovely voice, perfect for his own brand of breezy, 60’s-70’s inspired pop while the rest of the band seems to be obedient to his every whim and they sound , to me , like a well-oiled machine. The opening track, “Caitlin’s 60’s Pop Song”, is a perfect opener, all cascading melody and gentle rhythms, “Radio One” is just as melodic and “Julia” is a perfect tribute (or should be) to John Lennon. There is even a song on here called “Spector’s Dead” so maybe they know something we don’t know? The rest of the record is all aces too so for a country that gave up pop maestros the Go-Betweens, Adrian Whitehead and his band have done their country proud. All 10 songs here are worthy of your time and major kudos to the always reliable Pop Boomerang label for discovering this soon to be pop giant.

Usually, my practice is to listen to a CD over a couple of weeks before putting up a review, to get a feel for it and to make sure I initially don't overrate or underrate it. Then there's this disc, which I received three days ago and have listened to only a couple of times, and which I can say is easily the best new disc I've heard in many a month.

Adrian Whitehead hails from Melbourne, Australia, and he's on the incomparable Popboomerang label, home of many great power poppers. He's been mostly a sideman, with my only exposure to him being the track "Spector's Dead" (which appears here) on a Popboomerang comp from a few years ago. As good as that track is, nothing prepared me for how great this full-length is, in which Whitehead has shown his utter mastery of 60s and 70s-influenced pop forms that all of us in the power pop community enjoy. The Rolling Stone record guide once said that not liking the Beatles was as perverse as not liking the sun; the same could be said of this disc if you're a reader of this blog. While it draws its influences from the pop greats like the Beatles and Brian Wilson, it's also reminiscent of contemporary acts such as personal favorites like Derby and The Red Button as well as Jason Falkner, Michael Carpenter and Ken Sharp.

The bouncy and appropriately titled "Caitlin's 60's Pop Song" gets things going, and if your ears don't perk up within the first 30 seconds or so, you might be better off reading Pitchfork. The 6-minute "Saving Caroline" follows, and while my normal philosophy regarding songs is that 3-4 minutes is more than enough for a pop song (unless it's "Hey Jude"), it never wears out its welcome as it captures the late-period Beatles sensibility perfectly. "Radio One" is as catchy as it gets, and its breezy midtempo quality reminds me of Carpenter; "You Are The Sun" is piano ballad bliss that builds to a poptastic crescendo; and "Julia" may be even better than the Beatle track of the same name. Meanwhile, the aforementioned "Spector's Dead" doesn't have a wall of sound but provides enough sonic detours to keep things interesting, and "Ways of Man" has a bit of a Todd Rundgren-at-his-poppiest feel. And "Better Man" might be the coolest track on the disc, complete with an awesome honky tonk piano break in the middle.

Folks, step right up and meet the #1 disc of 2008.

Aussie popster Adrian Whitehead has been getting raves from the press and pop bloggers who've heard his latest "One Small Stepping Man". A soft classic pop formula similar to Dave Dill and Brent Cash, Adrian uses simple catchy melodies with a nod to The Beatles and a very smooth clean production style similar to Dave Stephens. The opening track "Caitlin's 60's Pop Song" echos Nilsson and Adrian's vocals are very similar here to Ken Stringfellow of The Posies. It's got the pop smarts and little details that make a wonderful song. Next, "Saving Caroline" opens with a seventies-styled strum a la Styx, and the bass floats the melody along, but at over six minutes it goes on a bit too long for me. "Radio One" sounds like a Posies mid-tempo guitar song and breaks into an amazing piano ballad. The piano ballads continue with the McCartney-like melodies in "You are The Sun" and "Julia" which are very good and the bright "Spector's Dead" remind me of Julian Lennon's "Photograph Smile" album. On the "Ways of Man" we get a very McCartney-like bass line and on "Better Man" the lyrical themes are sharp and the song has a bit more energy, but "Elle" is another long ballad that seems to go on forever. No doubt this is a strong debut and if you like any of the above artists, you'll enjoy this. An equal measure of credit goes to producer Jak Housden for making these songs sound so good.

http://powerpopaholic.blogspot.com/2008/06/adrian-whitehead-one-small-stepping-man.html

ONE SMALL STEPPING MAN- (POP BOOMERANG)- I read a few rave reviews of this cd then whammo, it comes barreling out of my po box and into my brown Trader Joes bag that I bring to the post office to pick up my mail and the reviews were right, this one is a doozie. For all of you out there that were blown away by The Red Button cd from a year or two back well this is just as good if not better. Leader Whitehead , of this Aussie quartet, plays piano and sings and he has a lovely voice, perfect for his own brand of breezy, 60’s-70’s inspired pop while the rest of the band seems to be obedient to his every whim and they sound , to me , like a well-oiled machine. The opening track, “Caitlin’s 60’s Pop Song”, is a perfect opener, all cascading melody and gentle rhythms, “Radio One” is just as melodic and “Julia” is a perfect tribute (or should be) to John Lennon. There is even a song on here called “Spector’s Dead” so maybe they know something we don’t know? The rest of the record is all aces too so for a country that gave up pop maestros the Go-Betweens, Adrian Whitehead and his band have done their country proud. All 10 songs here are worthy of your time and major kudos to the always reliable Pop Boomerang label for discovering this soon to be pop giant

http://www.daggerzine.com/reviews_main.html

One Small Stepping Man (CD, Popboomerang, Pop Strange that this album just happened to be sitting on top of the the new album by From Bubblegum To Sky in our office stacks...because Adrian Whitehead's voice and style of crafting songs are remarkably similar to Mario Hernandez. Like Hernandez, Whitehead writes melodic uplifting music that is so positive and upbeat that it is likely to turn lots of folks off. Which is truly unfortunate...because these songs are by no means artificially calculated nor phony. One Small Stepping Man is a purely genuine collection of catchy positive pop that resounds with originality. We had to spin this album over and over and over before it finally made an impression on us. But when it hit...it really hit. This guy is good at what he does...damn good. The 1960s leap into the twenty-first century...and the results are astounding. Classic cuts include "Caitlin's 60's Pop Song," "You Are The Sun," "Elle," and "Nothing's Changed." Some of these tunes recall some of the softer tracks by The Monkees and the vocals are strangely reminiscent of Redd Kross at times... Recommended. (Rating: 5++)