Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

I kind of miss power pop, artists like Suzi Quatro, The Sweet, The Shoes, kind of early Beatlesque stuff that wasn't rocket science but was deceptively simple, music that you found yourself humming three or four days after you heard it. Maybe that's why I'm a bit of a sucker for KING MAKER. Nothing real complex here, but nothing dumbed down, either; just 12 songs that are different enough from each other that you don't lose 50 minutes and that are done well.

Tammy's been listening to her old Bangles' records, no doubt about it, but don't think that KING MAKER is a slavish imitation of anything. No, the influence is there, but from a different perspective. For example, while "This Time" puts one in the mind of "Manic Monday," it is not because of any immediate similarity between the songs; no, it's due to more subtle things like the well-done harmonies by way of southern California, the sparkling guitar solos by the Lords of Misrule, things like that. The energy level rarely fades throughout the CD, but on the other hand, we're not talking Rocket from the Crypt tempos here, either. All the tracks contain hooks a'plenty, instantly familiar, but you're not really sure from where. There are a number of songs about jaded south-Cal princesses from different perspectives ("What Baby Wants," Camellia Chameleon," "Angelina") that are of types that anyone over the age of 15, regardless of geographical area, will immediately recognize.

Gotta say a word or five about the arrangements. The Lords of Misrule, though relegated somewhat to the background, do a fine job of sounding casual, but they're not just slopping this stuff together. I hate to use the comparison to early Beatles again, but one of the things that's fascinating about the early Beatles is to go back and to listen to all the quirky little things that they tossed in here and there just for grins and giggles. So, too, do the Lords of Misrule. "Camillia Chameleon, " for example, has guitars chiming in and out of the mix in counterpoint to the vocals, and it fits so well it gets past you the first couple of times through. KING MAKER is full of stuff like this.

KING MAKER contains a lot, and is a much more complex than it appears to be at first blush. It's the type of CD that you might play two or three times, and set aside, only to come back to at frequent if irregular intervals for new discoveries. There are plenty to be had here. KING MAKER, like Tammy and the Lords of Misrule, is an unexpected, most welcome, surprise.