It must be Lemonheads Appreciation Day or something today, since we've had not only a review by an old Lemonhead in his Varsity Drag guise, buy also Have You Seen Lucky by John Kastner, who's written with Evan Dando before.
And that's fine by us, since summery indie powerpop is always welcome here, especially when it's delivered with the finesse of Have You Seen Lucky by John Kastner. Which this is, since this is Have You Seen Lucky by John Kastner.
We'd be liars if we said we knew who John Kastner was. Deliciously rudimentary research has shown that he was in a Canadian band called The Doughboys, who released seven albums – some of which went gold in Canada – and opened for The Offspring. So, after such shrugtastic backgrounds, it comes as a bit of a surprise that John Kastner's solo album Have You Seen Lucky is an infectious, perfectly-formed melodic power-pop gem.
Have You Seen Lucky by John Kastner is a treat for anyone who likes their pop music in slabs of simple, guitary, breathtaking assured songwriting. We do, and as a result Have You Seen Lucky ticks boxes we didn't even know we had. Few are the albums that make it onto our iPod without shedding a few duff tracks in the process, but Have You Seen Lucky by John Kastner is their in its entirety; from opener Kick Back, a song so cheerily full of summer it almost – almost – could be the theme-tune to Saved By The Bell: The College Years, right through to final track, Most Upsetting Song, which is really too pretty to be properly upsetting.
The stops along the way throughout Have You Seen Lucky by John Kastner are worth mentioning, too. Everything's Broken is the lost hit The Foo Fighters were too busy duetting with Norah Jones to write, Trainwreck Magnetism is a head-down, forward thrusting charge with a frantic guitar solo that is so good you can't help feeling that John Kastner was taking the piss when he taped it. Brilliant People is the only song in history that makes the line "Everybody's sick, everybody dies" sounds like a pep talk. We could sing the praises of every song on Have You Seen Lucky by John Kastner – it's that bulletproof.
God knows if John Kastner is playing any festivals this year. Let's hope not because, on the basis of Have You Seen Lucky, he'll steal your heart and never give it back.
Now buy Have You Seen Lucky by John Kastner from Amazon
[story by Stuart Heritage]