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Podcasts Take Two
New music from Gospelbeach and Dylan Gardner
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Sep 22, 2015
Listen 6:54
New music from Gospelbeach and Dylan Gardner
If you love new music, but you don't have the time to keep up with what's hip and new, we've got the perfect segment for you: Tuesday Reviewsday.
"Too Afraid To Love You" from Dylan Gardner's 'Adventures In Real Time.'
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If you love new music, but you don't have the time to keep up with what's hip and new, we've got the perfect segment for you: Tuesday Reviewsday.

If you love new music, but you don't have the time to keep up with what's hip and new, we've got the perfect segment for you: Tuesday Reviewsday. Every week our music experts bring in their top picks, which we promise, will keep you and your musical tastes relevant. This week we're joined by

, News Director at Billboard Magazine.

Artist: Gospelbeach
Album: "Pacific Surf Line"
Songs: "Mick Jones," "Your Freedom"
Summary:
 First up is a sort of supergroup of musicians from L.A.’s Eastside called Gospelbeach. Those who keep up with the indie scene might recognize a few of this five-piece’s forefathers. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals and the Chris Robinson Brotherhood for starters, both of whom feature the guitar stylings of Neal Casal. Gospelbeach also includes members of Silverlake-born groups Beachwood Sparks, Everest and the Tyde. There’s also a cameo by a member of Brian Wilson’s band.

The sum of all parts is a musical homage to those who came before them, namely another of LA’s adopted sons, Gram Parsons, but also a cosmic American nod to other beacons of decades past, like the "Pacific Surf Line," which is the name of the album and of an old railroad route that traveled the California coast.

Needless to say, this album is sunny and breezy and many other adjectives you could associate with SoCal, but it’s also surprisingly sparse at times, letting the vibes flow through individual leads. So, on one song the harmonies might shine, but on another, it’s the guitar solo, or like on "Your Freedom," it's the pedal steel.

Singer Brent Rademaker has called Gospelbeach a happy accident. In fact, he had basically written off the band life and returned to his home state of Florida, but the West Coast drew him back, and this collaboration came to be organically.

You can check them out for yourself at their upcoming residency at the Standard in Hollywood every Wednesday in October.

Artist: Dylan Gardner
Album: "Adventures in Real-Time"
Songs: "I’m Nothing Without You," "Too Afraid to Love You"
Summary: 
A multi-instrumentalist whiz kid, 19-year-old Dylan Gardener was raised on Power pop and Pro Tools in his Aurora, Illinois hometown, miles away from the music store his dad owned. They grow them strong out in the Midwest and Dylan, like his pop, has rock in his blood. Thankfully, it’s of the irresistibly sweet variety as this album proves in several spots, like on the song "I'm Nothing Without You."

Now, in what was some smart sonic decision-making, this debut album not a throwback, retro kind of thing, but melody-wise, the songwriting is stepped in the Beatles but also a band like XTC.

You can also hear echoes of the Knack and Cheap Trick and countless obscuro seven inches from Midwest bands that toiled away in their basement.

But that doesn't mean Dylan Gardener shies away from the sort of big pop that makes it to commercial radio. In fact, some of the songs on "Adventures in Real-Time" come awfully close to OneRepublic territory. It's like they’re contracted for maximum appeal, but that’s not his strong suit, necessarily. His songs are built of something more fragile and real than what most pop singers put out.

What Dylan Gardener can claim is an update of buoyant, head-bopping power pop for the 21st century. He’s still young, as you can tell from song titles like "Too Afraid to Love You," but he’s definitely someone to watch.