Songwriters John Elderkin and Steve Ruppenhal are no strangers to homegrown success. Their legendary, left-of-the-dial pop band, The Popes, is well-entrenched in North Carolina music history alongside other iconic names like Arrogance, Ben Folds Five, Southern Culture on the Skids and Squirrel Nut Zippers. Their latest project, The Public Good, finds the duo building a cult following around the Washington, D.C. area by pumping out a collection of clean, sharp, power pop numbers. Joining forces with Elderkin and Ruppenhal are Sam Esquith on guitar and keyboards, and percussionist extraordinaire, Chris Garges on drums.

As a follow up to their critically-acclaimed 2009 release, No. 1, The Public Good have pulled together another quality album. Labeling A Varied Program of Stereo Dynamics for Your Wild Nights Alone as eclectic or quirky pop would fall short of a complete and appropriate description, sort of like describing Tori Amos' Little Earthquakes as a piano-rock album. The intelligent, mature lyrics weave a path through well-crafted melodies and rhythms, transporting the listeners through various themes and topics.

"My Pre-Existing Conditions" and "Hey, Solomon Grundy" are highlighted in the band's press release as featured tracks and are great tunes. Personally, I personally prefer the driving, power-pop of "Black Ice", the classic harmonies of "This Rising Tide" and "Slow Day At Work", a slightly-REM influenced instrumental tune.  With A Varied Program of Stereo Dynamics for Your Wild Nights Alone, The Public Good have delivered the kind of power-pop not heard since the heydays of The Smithereens, Guadalcanal Diary and The Replacements.

The Public Good

A Varied Program of Stereo Dynamics for Your Wild Nights Alone

Lost Lyrics, 2010

Track Listing:

1. You Looked Good

2. This Is What We Want

3. Black Ice

4. Cooking For Two

5. Hey, Solomon Grundy

6. Slow Day At Work

7. This Rising Tide

8. Hey!

9. Your Product Name Right Here

10. In Bed

11. My Pre-Existing Conditions

12. I Saw You Walking

13. I Wanna Be Clean

14. And Then We Ran Out Of Things To Talk About

This article appears in Jun 10-16, 2010.