A Force Of One

Musical trends come and go, but some things never go completely out of style, and good power pop is one of them. Cheap Trick will probably never again achieve anything close to the chart positions they enjoyed in the late '70s, and Fastball will probably never come close to those heights of popularity at all — but Cheap Trick will keep selling out venues as long as they keep touring, and you'll keep hearing Fastball on the radio. If those names make the rock lobe of your brain tingle, then you'll want to run to your computer and immediately order a copy of Ari Shine's A Force of One. Like the Rocket Summer, Shine plays all the instruments himself and sings almost all the parts, but he never falls prey to the one-man band sickness — that low-grade fever that afflicts somebody like Prince when no one is around to tell him he's being a dork, and that shuts down the part of his brain that can tell the difference between brilliance and self-indulgence. Shine is all about tight song structures, sharply observed lyrics, and focused hooks — and if his hooks don't bite quite as deeply as those of some of his colleagues, his songs are still plenty of good fun. Even if you don't walk away from A Force of One singing any of the choruses obsessively, you'll have a great time listening to the widgety '70s synthesizer on "Beat U," the wry humor of "She Wants It (More Than Me)," and the cheerfully cheesy house-ska of "Party People." Definitely worth a listen.