Fresh from the blender

 By Henry Lipput

What do you get when you put a musical mix of styles in a blender and hit the puree button? If you’re lucky (and it turns out we definitely are this time) you’ll end up with The Power Of And (Big Stir Records) the debut solo album from Steve Stoeckel – and it’s a delight!

The Power Of And alternates between the Rockpile rockabilly of “Laura Lynn” to the wonderful acoustic treats of the title song, “Heather Gray,” “Birds” (a lovely melody as good as anything on a McCartney album), and “Strange Cameo” with its “I’ll Follow The Sun” vibe.

Stoeckel is a founding member of Power Pop Hall of Famers The Spongetones so it’s not surprising the power and the pop is brought out in force on “Christine” in which Stoeckel double tracks his vocal and sounds like the Everly Brothers doing “Lucille.” His duet with Irene Pena on “Why” also suggests not only the Everlys but also the foreverly album in which Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day dropped his snarl and teamed up with Nora Jones for an album of Everly Brothers songs.

“If/Then” is where the Nick Drake influence comes in and it includes some wonderful Robert Kirby-like strings. “Hummingbird” could have been written by Andy Partridge and is a sister to “Ladybird” on XTC’s Mummer album. And I couldn’t help but think of George Harrison when listening to “Just One Kiss” with its opening mandolin like something off Brainwashed.