The Man That Time Forgot

Twangy Memphis-based singer/songwriter John Paul Keith and his band the One Four Fives deliver a rollicking mix of power pop, country, and blues-inflected rock on Keith's 2011 sophomore effort, The Man That Time Forgot. Picking up where 2009's Spills and Thrills left off, The Man That Time Forgot is an even more sharply honed piece of rootsy melodicism that brings to mind a mix of Elvis Costello, Dwight Twilley, and Gram Parsons. In fact, for fans of that kind of slapback, Fender-twang pop played by other like-minded popsters from Buddy Holly to Big Star to Tom Petty, John Paul Keith will be a kind of second coming of the power pop savior. He has a knack for distilling his musical influences down to their most addictive qualities and writing songs that sound like instant classics. To these ends, Keith channels Gram Parsons' wry and rambling persona on "You Devil You" and nails the bluesy dance-rock of Twilley on "Anyone Can Do It." Similarly, the romantic blue-eyed soul ballad "Somebody Ought to Write a Song About You," much like the rest of The Man That Time Forgot, sounds like the best rediscovered '60s AM pop hit you forgot how much you loved.