Guest post by Nathan Arizona
The composer Arthur Jackson had two sheds, and a nickname to match. But he was furious when his interviewer kept calling him Two Sheds and asking him about the sheds instead of his new symphony. This was a Monty Python sketch, though, so naturally the interviewer kept doing it.
But there’s a German power-pop band that proudly calls itself Two Sheds Jackson. It’s not as well-known as that Monty Python sketch (heck, almost any Monty Python sketch), but it has endured since a couple of guys from Berlin started putting the band together in 1987.
They never became stars, but their 2018 album “Some Kinda Life” got good reviews, and a song by them from a 2011 EP placed No. 1,604 on a recent list of all-time best power-pop tunes at a site called Power Pop and Co. That doesn’t sound like much, but this list goes to 10,000, (power-pop nerds can be fanatical.)
Here are a couple of songs that ended up on “Some Kinda Life.” The group often brought in guest singers. In the second video, note the fresh, bubbly voice that comes in at about 1:00. The singer’s not looking fresh and bubbly these days, but he’s got the sound.
German power-pop bands are not exactly thick on the ground over here, but you can find Suspect Parts, Keegan and a few others online. Facebook site Power Pop and Mod Sounds From Germany, Austria and Switzerland (!) has videos of Die Aeronauten, Jetzt, Die Liga Der Gewöhnliche Gentlemen and other bands whose names are even harder to spell.
