Arthur Alexander – One Bar Left (LP)

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Arthur Alexander was at ground zero of the first wave of the New York City punk scene in the late 70’s as guitarist for Poppees, the first band signed to the legendary Bomp! Records. Poppees were heavily active back in the day dominating venues like CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City helping them garner their nickname the ‘Beatles of the Bowery’. Their music is a brut combination of harmonious melodies and guitar jangley pop played with a street wise toughness that mirrored the bands surroundings at the time. Poppees were one of the first New York bands to help bridge the gap between new wave, power pop and punk and were one of the key bands to ignite the first-wave of American Power-Pop. So if you wanted to trace the roots of American Power-Pop, Arthur Alexander is a core part of it’s nucleus through Poppees and his later Power-Pop hitmakers Sorrows. ‘One Bar Left’ marks Arthur’s trailblazing hallmark as a solo artist and he’s joined by an impressive backing band including members of Dr. Boogie, Sorrows, Prima Donna, and The Blessings. Real deal Rock ‘n Roll is the name of the game here and Arthur comes firing in all different shapes and sizes. ‘One Bar Left’ runs the gamut including a number of the the Punk infected Power Pop anthems that’s he’s built a career on to songs that have flashes of proto-Punk, 80′ Radio Rock, a little Rockabilly, some Mersey Beat finesse and a steady stream of of pop filtered guitar shredders. Fiery riffs, explosive drums, and relentless harmonies careen together in Rock ‘n Roll tranquility with Arthur Alexander at the helm showing why he’s still one of the best after 40+ years in the game. He certainly has a knack for writing uber-catchy pop slaying guitar anthems, and that’s no better on display than on ‘One Bar Left’. The LP includes a nice two sided printed inner dust sleeve with additional band photos and extensive liner notes by Barry Dreyfus.

Released by Dead Beat Records (2018).