We sure are writing the words "power pop" a lot these days. Backlash? Rock revival? Something afoot? Meta pronouncements are always dicey, but in this carousel alone you've got Redd Kross, Fang Island and right here, Nude Beach: three bands that are (a) very much that, bands and (b) aspire to little more than riff-laden blasts of fun. Nude Beach are the least known of the lot, but with II--the reissue by Other Music Recordings of an album self-released in the spring--they look poised to win a crop of converts. 

The oft-mentioned Tom Petty and Replacements comparisons are definitely there. But it's Elvis Costello and the Attractions that we keep coming back to in tracking through II -- due in no small part to Chuck Betz's adenoidal Costello/Petty hybrid of a voice. In any case, point is, it's a familiar sound that Nude Beach are plying--and why not? To expend too much energy on famiiarity or derivativness is to stick a pin in the the good times, the naked abandon that the record serves up.

Here's what others are saying about the record: 

SPIN: They bring the goods from top to bottom. It's a jangling, jukebox-bound feast of unshakable melody.

No Ripcord: It’s a testament to their ingenious crafting of familiar sounds that we hear the musical reference points in each of these songs without feeling cheated by the fact that we can pinpoint precisely who they sound like at any given moment.  I can see how some people might claim plagiarism but their love of the music of which they are so obviously fans keep these songs from becoming bogged down through an over reliance on another artists’ talent.

Pitchfork: II is a record created with the belief that a trebly guitar riff, a no-bullshit drum beat, and a heart-melting chorus can still rip out the hearts of hopeless romantics young and old. Thankfully, Nude Beach are skilled enough as songwriters and unskilled enough as musicians to re-affirm this belief yet again. 

Bear witness to Nude Beach's belief by listening to the thrilling hook-packed collection that is II.