P. Hux As Good As Advertised 2023

Parthenon Huxley has been around since the early eighties producing finely crafted power pop, as well as completing two stints (1999-2007, 2011) with ELO Part 2/The Orchestra, the touring band that kept ELO alive after Jeff Lynne departed. You can hear how Huxley would do a fine job with Lynne's vocal parts with ease. Plus he's a talented guitarist.

The P. Hux albums have all been great power pop gems, and this one is no exception. A highly capable writer, Huxley pens hooky tunes with smart lyrics and melodies that sound familiar but are hard to place. He has an outstanding voice and as mentioned, plays hot and tasty guitar. Add to all that a talented band with Dave Phenicie on bass, Ricky Wise on drums, and Daniel Clarke on keyboards. Clarke's piano and organ really add a lot of color to these songs. He decorates the melodies and plays some lead keyboard breaks that add depth to the basic trio sound he admirably expands.

Catchy pop/rock dominates the record, and As Good As Advertised, Til The World Looks Right, Rainbow, This Song Reminds Me Of You, Human Again, and Bitter Tears are all solid, with great vocals, guitar and keyboards, and hooks galore. The ballads are equally strong, with What's It Gonna Take, Sad About The Boy and Uncivil War all keeping the quality high. Uncivil War could be about a disappointing relationship or maybe its about the political polarization of our country. It works both ways. Finally, Mister Black Sky answer's the old ELO hit and includes some of that Jeff Lynne reverb on Huxley's vocal. There isn't a weak song on the disc.

This is about as good as modern rock/power pop gets. Lots of bands have done this gig in the past and many continue today, but nobody does it any better than Parthenon Huxley.