Midweek Roundup.

Keith LuBrant-Who I Am. Jersey power popper Keith LuBrant is back like clockwork with his third album, having last entertained us six years ago with Searching for Signal and releasing his debut album six years before that. Like his first two albums, Who I Am features catchy, no-frills power pop but with a bit more emphasis on the guitar sound this time around. The pulsing rocker "Wide Awake and Alive" comes roaring out of the gate as LuBrant announces his return with a declarative statement about playing music he loves, and "She Always Finds a Way" shows his mastery of the power pop form with crunchy guitars and a sing-along chorus. Elsewhere, "Call Off the Search" recalls vintage Gin Blossoms, the midtempo "Breathe" boasts an easy melody and some fine guitar work, and the agreeable rocker "Stranger in My Skin" nods to the guitar riff of "Baba O'Riley" in its chorus. LuBrant sounds like he's never been away, and he'll probably sound that way when his next album comes out in 2019.

UPDATE: Now available from Kool Kat with a bonus disc.

CD Baby | iTunes | Kool Kat (w/bonus)

Daniel Novick-Devil Down. The debut full-length from NYC singer-songwriter is billed as his "journey from Nashville to Los Angeles to New York, a path filled with love, heartbreak, pain, and redemption" and while it may be that, it's also an extremely agreeable pop record with hooks and melodies galore. The opening title track is Exhibit A for this premise, with a driving beat and an earworm of a chorus. "Pacific Coast Highway" isn't a bad follow-up, a perfect soundtrack for driving around with the top down (or at least the windows open). The moody piano-backed "Safe With Me" brings Steven Mark and Michael Penn to mind, and the minor-key melody of "Reason to Leave" is straight out of the Neil Finn playbook. Overall, Devil Down has proved to be one of my more pleasant pop surprises of the past few months and hopefully yours too.

CD Baby | iTunes

CD of the Day, 1/8/07: Keith LuBrant-Searching For Signal

New Jersey's Keith LuBrant, who burst onto the power pop scene with 2001's Face In The Crowd, is back to give us yet another quality early-year 2007 release with Searching For Signal, due out this week on Kool Kat. Helping Keith out on this disc are Mike Viola and Jim Boggia, which is quite appropriate as his style on Searching For Signal is comparable to a cross between those two. Speaking of the help, Pete Donnelly of The Figgs plays bass on several tracks as well. Throw in the fact that Kool Kat is releasing it on their imprint, and the pedigree of power pop quality is certainly there.

So it's no surprise that say that the tunes come through - from the uptempo title track to the impossibly catchy "Too Late" (perhaps my favorite track of 2007 so far - yeah, I know it's only been 8 days, but the song is really good) to the Michael Carpenter-like "I Survived" to the rocking "Disconnected" to the Neil Finn-esque "February Day" to the wistful "Postcards & Memories", to which Boggia contributes vocals (and which would have fit nicely on Boggia's Safe In Sound), it's one solid track after another.

Intrigued? Then head over to his site, which has samples of all tracks; although they're approximately 30 seconds apiece, they get right to the hooks. And if you're hooked, get it at Kool Kat, where Ray & Co. have a great deal on the disc, complete with a 6-track bonus disc, and the CD itself comes with a code to download nearly 20 additional demos and unreleased tracks from the Searching For Signal recording sessions.

If the first three discs I've featured this year are going to be indicative of the quality of power pop coming down the pike for 2007, I'm going to need to get cracking on a top 200, let alone 100.