(Melodic Rock / AOR) Buford Pope - Sticks In The Throat - 2014, MP3, 320 kbps

Here’s one of the best melodic rockers I’ve heard in Sweden the past few years: BUFORD POPE. His real name is MIKAEL LILJEBORG, born on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea.

Some of his songs sound like a slightly softer and more polished AC/DC, like the opener “Don’t take it out on me” and “Stand up for your man”. It also wanders away into TOM PETTY territory in the nice tune “She’s gotta country mouth”. Same goes for “Give it up”, where I also think of later BRETT WALKER albums as well as Swedish/Danish collaboration MATS RONANDER and KIM LARSEN with their song “Gör mig lycklig nu”. The variation on this album is quite rich, but Buford manages to stick to a thread all the way through. Other vibes worth mentioning is R.E.M., which can be heard in the title track “Sticks in the throat”. BUFORD POPE and his four band members are truly solid, and good musicians. You HAVE to check this out if you’re a melodic rocker. I long for more already.