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Sep 01, 2011 Tommy Keene By Frank Valish

Tommy Keene has been honing his craft for almost 30 years now, and in that time, he has established himself as one of the preeminent champions of power-pop working today. His ninth album, Behind the Parade, makes a further case for his continued reign on the genre, and further representation of the consistently stellar output he’s been recording since the mid-‘80s.

Big Star, The Byrds, The Beach Boys, and, of course, The Beatles are still the apt comparisons for such jangly and rockingly melodic songs as “Deep Six Saturday,” “Running for Your Life,” and the guitar heavy title track. Yet while most of Behind the Parade perfectly represents Keene’s signature style, the album does find him branching out, as in the hauntingly ethereal keyboard instrumental “La Castana.” Although the track is nothing of what you’d expect from Keene, all lush keys and floating instrumentation, it’s a striking piece and something one would look forward to hearing more of from the guitar pop maestro. Well done, Mr. Keene. We’ll enjoy this one until album number 10. (www.tommykeene.com)

Author rating: 7/10