This one HIT me. Hard. It should you, too. All the hallmarks of high-brow, immediate pop. Soaring, heavenly melodies, smooth and soft vocals that only push up smiles and high-reaching arrangements that give pop music a good name. Fans of Jon Brion, Emitt Rhodes, David Grahame, Jim Boggia and Mike Viola of The Candy Butchers. Pretty cool company, but it is merited here. Just tune below and hear if you agree. It tells the story to my ears. "9 out of 10. Starting with the gentle acoustic hook in "X" it leads to a glorious McCartney-like chorus, that builds to sticky goodness in the multi-track harmonic ending with ascending basslines. The title track "Mecury Mine" has echoes of Harry Nilsson and Squeeze with it`s tinkling piano lead. There are too many gems here to count, so I`ll just indulge in my favorites, "Oasis" rings with the piano melody that wouldn`t sound out of place on a Michael Carpenter album. "Lifeboat" is another musical metaphor of the creative process at "...the bottom of The Puget Sound." The album`s middle slows down a bit, but it has wonderful ballads that resonate, like the poignant "Marie" and the weary "Jetlagged." Fans of Teenage Fanclub will love the guitar melody "Bud" and although the album doesn`t approach the highs it starts with, nothing here is filler, as most tunes fit in under three minutes and it`s sure to be repeated on your ipod playlist. Pure ear candy that is not to be missed."- Power Pop Aholic blog. "The record, which clocks in just over 30 minutes, is loaded with short and sweet pop songs that are very easy on the ears. Vocally and musically, Guss reminds me a lot of Mike Viola, or David Gray (Idle Wilds). The lyrics are witty and often amusing, matched well to the mood of the music. The record kicks things off with what has become my favorite track, "X", a peppy song with a perfect mix of acoustic and electric guitar, augmented with plenty of juicy harmonies. The catchy songs keep rolling along with the title track, "Oasis", and "Lifeboat" providing some of the finest 12 minutes of classic power pop I`ve heard in a while." - Bill`s Music Forum. Oh yeah, if Guss` name sounds familiar, he`s a pop veteran who`s played with Nada Surf, Jon Auer, Harvey Danger, Fountains of Wayne and his own bands The Tycoons and Tube Top, who were a favorite of this site many years back. Also,the album features help from Brian Young (Fountains of Wayne), and Phil Hurley (Gigolo Aunts) and Chris Ballew (Presidents of the United States of America). It`s early in the year still, but a Top 10 for 2010 that will hold onto the spot.
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