Mini-review Tuesday.

Acid-Acid. This Jersey band may be tough to Google, but their hard-driving Cheap Trick-meets-The Replacements melodic rock is easy to enjoy. There's also a touch of glam here as well as Strokes-like vocals, and their frontman goes by the name "Special K". What's not to like? Top tracks: "Dead", "Sheila", "Born to Stay".

CD Baby | iTunes

Dale Murray-Dream Mountain Dream. Murray is the former guitarist for the Canadian folk-rock-Americana band Cuff the Duke, and his return to solo recording is an excellent "Popicana" record chock full of Wilburyesque jangle. Those who enjoyed recent releases from the likes of Mike Barnett and Marco Joachim will want to have a listen. Top tracks: "Dream Mountain Dream", "Assess the Mess", "Now You've Been Warned".

CD Baby | iTunes

Brad Brooks-Harmony of Passing Light. Quirky popster Brad Brooks is back with his followup to 2007's Spill Collateral Love, and it's another effort that doesn't quite exactly sound like anything else in your collection. Brooks mixes various pop styles and puts his own spin on them, making each song a surprise from what came previously. Top tracks: the piano & sitar R&B-based "Calling Everyone", the George Harrisonesque "Steal My Disarray" and the Rufus Wainwright-style balladry of "Farewell to Folderol".

CD Baby | iTunes

The 88-Actors. "Actors" is an appropriate name for an EP by a band whose songs have found their way into numerous films & TV shows (including the wonderful "At Least it Was Here", the theme for NBC's "Community"). Their latest is a bit more subdued than normal but still highly melodic, and a must-have if you count their earlier releases among your collection. Top tracks: "Blue Skies are Black Again", "Do You Love Me", "My Friend John".

CD Baby | iTunes

The Squires of the Subterrain-Sandbox. The Squires are back with more of the XTC/Dukes of Stratosphear-meet-the-Beach Boys sunshine-y psych-pop we've known and loved from them in the past, and Sandbox fits right into their canon, with a bit more of a lean to the Beach Boy sound this time around (hence the title, I suppose). Top tracks: "Idling in the Sun", "Surfin' Indiana", "Woodrow Wilson".

CD Baby | iTunes

A few quick eMus.

The Backroom-Reagan Era Rocketship. See here.

Brad Brooks-Spill Collateral Love. Reviewed here.

And finally, a 1993 disc from The Pearlfishers, Za Za's Garden, was added as well.

More good stuff from eMusic (plus last 10 on the iPod).

Some quality releases:

Icecream Hands-The Good China. I would have featured this one as a CD of the Day back when it came out earlier this year, but it wasn't released in the USA. The veteran Aussie power poppers are back and better than ever on this one.

The Makes Nice-This Time Tomorrow. Hey, didn't these guys just put on an album? Anyway, on the heels of Candy Wrapper here they are with another helping of Nugget-y goodness.

Neall Alcott-Rittenhouse Square. We alerted you to this one about a month ago, and now it's on eMusic; if you didn't want to spring for the CD, here's your big chance.

Brad Brooks-Sanctified Into Astroglide. Quite a few of you out there enjoyed Brad's 2007 release Spill Collateral Love - now eMu features his previous disc from 2000, another slice of highly eclectic pop.

BONUS LAST TEN ON THE iPOD:
"Hate Being Lonely"-Ben Forrest Davis, Roughs. (This one is really sneaking up on me)
"Stranger Things Have Happened"-Foo Fighters, Echoes Silence Patience
"Bright Blue Hell"-Rosavelt, The Story of Gasoline
"Places"-Georgie James, Places (this disc is about as good as boy-girl indie pop gets - Roll over AC Newman and tell Neko Case the news)
"Judgment Day"-Bill Deasy, The Miles (singer-songwriter similar to AM & Gus Black)
"All The Way Down"-Pawnshop Roses, Let It Roll (not bad faux Black Crowes)
"Basement Parties"-Matt Pond PA, Last Light
"Hello This Is Goodbye"-Ben Forrest Davis, Roughs
"Sleep"-Jackdaw4, Bipolar Diversions
"Cotton Island"-The State of Samuel, Here Come The Floods

CD of the Day, 6/11/07: Brad Brooks-Spill Collateral Love

And now for something completely different. Brad Brooks stretches the boundaries of power pop with Spill Collateral Love, a tour de force of different pop stylings that share the same level of inspiration. I've seen comparisons of Brooks to a number of different artists, with the consensus being that he's Freddie Mercury meets Guided by Voices. There's certainly an element of that in there, but there are several others that shine through.

For example, the leadoff track "Love On My Sleeve" builds to a Rufus Wainwright via Thom Yorke crescendo that never wears out its welcome over nearly six minutes. "Lathered In Cream" is the closest to straight-ahead power pop, but it adds its own subversive GbV element as well. Other standouts include "The Loon of Altitude" (which starts off as a poppy-California-sounding ditty, only to dissolve into a "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" wall of sound, only to dissolve again into some ragtime piano with unintelligble whispers), "Francis of Alaska" (Freddy & Rufus again), the near-jangle of "The Sonic Twins", and the 40s-style crooning of the finale "Luccurious Latitude". Spill Collateral Love is the power pop equivalent of an art film, and although it my lack the immediate hooks that we normally deal in here, it's worth the effort to explore.

MySpace | CD Baby | Not Lame stream