Hopeless Melodic

Matthew Pop - Hopeless Melodic

In my lifetime, I've probably seen several hundred solo acoustic performances, and a majority of the time they bore me to tears. Let's face it... a smoky, noisy bar isn't the best place to hear singer/songwriters. It's just hard to hold the attention of a bunch of drunks without instruments that are louder than they are. So anytime someone can get up on stage alone in a dingy dive bar and hold my attention, it's quite the feat.

Sunday night my band played a gig at one of our local dive bars, and Matthew Pop followed us. It was one of those rare occasions that a solo performer not only held my interest, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. His songs were catchy as hell, and it was hard not to get caught up in his enthusiasm as he played them. On Hopeless Melodic, his pop sensibilities are on even stronger display. It's full of the kind of melodies you can only dream up after spending countless hours digesting hundreds of pop albums. He's obviously spent a lot of time listening to Brian Wilson, and he's got the hooks and harmonies to prove it. Pop plays all the instruments himself, and though the drum machine sometimes gives the songs a bit of a demo feel, the home recorded nature just adds to the album's low key charm. It kinda sounds like a bedroom made version of Fountains of Wayne... call it low wattage power pop.

Matthew Pop - "Top Five" (mp3)