Dan Bryk is a tinkerer. His Facebook page describes various technical endeavors including this recent one: “rewiring the TV/DVD/itunes-through-airport extreme/old-mac-running-boxee/stereo”. At the moment he’s working on reinventing the wheel. His version of the wheel anyway. Which for him is the standard age-old pop song. Like the wheel, there’s little one can do to reinvent pop. But for Dan each clever turn of phrase, jangly guitar, layer of odd instrumentation, and overdubbed vocal is a revelation. And with every release he continues to upgrade, update, and redefine what is possible from the simple pop song.
Dan’s new record is called Pop Psychology. He’s done a soft release himself, but is still looking for the right label to release it (Bar/None, Parasol, and Ernest Jenning are you listening?). Fortunately for you it’s available from Bandcamp in any number of different formats (mp3, Flac, Lossless, etc) here. I’ve written often of Dan Bryk and this release is a great addition to his already stellar catalog of cult classics (here, here, here, here).
I’ve chosen the song “Alleged Career” since its themes of failure, false dreams, jealousy, and the ever elusive goal of indie rock superstardom are something I think we’ve all pondered. Dan was recently looking for help on the RIYL section of his latest press release and if I can be so bold I’d suggest Ben Folds, Chris Stamey, a little bit of Sloan and a dash of The Posies during the heavier moments. Show Dan I’ve at least got a little juice left and buy the new record here as a download.
My Alleged Career
Bonus:
BBW (Chunky Girl)
Summer Heroine (via Triangle Rock)
She Doesn’t Mean A thing To Me Tonight
Mark Turmell V2.0
