Bleu - Redhead
By Tim Byrnes

Bleu - Redhead
Label: Red Ink Records
Rating:

Under the guise of Bleu one James McAuley III has with "Redhead" confected something of a power-pop primer for those of us who missed it in the old days.

From the opener "Get Up" with it's shiny happy shockwave guitars and singalong chorus, through the Beach Boylike strains of "Could Be Worse", co-written by Andy Sturmer of Jellyfish near-fame (and it's a shame that JF never caught on) through the anthemic tinsel of "I Won't go Hollywood" this CD is a smart pop-bomb for those of us who still love melody.

Power-pop's always been the redheaded (hmmmmmmmmmm......) Stepchild of rock and roll, the guilty pleasure that we hide behind more "important" records.

Dismissed as mindless fluff in many houses, power-pop may be the most direct link to the original rock and roll (Little Richard, Elvis, Jerry Lee etc) we have.

Back when the big beat was as much a tool of infiltration as confrontation of the mainstream. By marrying melody to grinding, as well as chiming, guitars, bands like Cheap Trick, the Raspberries and the sainted Big Star have set the stage for bands like Bleu.

There's a creeping positivism to this CD and to the power-pop trip in general that's just not there in hip-hop or metal. Not that that's a bad thing, necessarily, to each emotion an outlet and all that, just an observation that bands like Bleu (and Fountains of Wayne, New Pornographers etc) have something in their sound that just makes one feel good.

And that's not a bad thing at all. Sometimes you get tired of banging your head against the wall in frustration over how messed up everything is, from your love life to the music industry to the latest on the evening news. Sometimes you need an escape, plain and simple. I'm loathe to admit it, but yes, sometimes music is just to entertain and we all need to cool out now and again. "Redhead" is the kind of CD you want at times like this.

On "That's When I Crash", indeed throughout the CD, McAuley III signifies with clear voiced earnestness a humility of purpose which utilizes his formidable talent in the service of light and heat instead of the smoke and mirrors of the shred and diva mentalities.

Which is a fancy way of saying "Redhead" is a great CD, the latest in a long line of smile provoking power-pop and well worth your investigation.

Listen to samples and Purchase this CD online