Last summer, I interviewed one of my favorite pop bands, Herman Dune, a French band affiliated with the New York anti-folk scene. In that interview, the band’s singer, David, explained his songwriting philosophy to me thusly: “It all comes back to Chuck Berry somehow.” It’s a philosophy that’s worked for them, and when you think about it, Chuck Berry had crafting a perfect rock and roll song down to a science. Pretty much every rock and roll song ever written post-Chuck Berry owes at least a little something to him, and all that any band trying to make relevant rock and roll has to do is listen to “Nadine” or “Come On” or “You Never Can Tell.” It’s about going back to the basics, paring the thing down and writing something that literally everyone in your life will probably enjoy hearing at a party.Ex-Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle’s solo work has been getting a lot of attention lately, but I have actually been listening to former Grandaddy guitarist Jim Fairchild’s songwriting project, All Smiles, with more frequency (Fairchild is the man in the photo above). I first encountered Fairchild’s first album, Ten Readings of a Warning, right after it initially came out. A quiet, poppy folk album, it was a record I could put on and not feel tempted to skip a single song, though I am particularly enamored with “Pile of Burning Leaves.” All Smiles is basically just Fairchild, the studio artists on that album are impressive: Menomena drummer Danny Seims, Janet Weiss (you know, formerly of Sleater-Kinney), Modest Mouse’s Joe Plummer…it’d be hard NOT to write a great album with all of those people on board. Anyway, I just got All Smiles’ second offering, Oh For The Getting And Not Letting Go, in the mail, and after a spin or two, I’ve decided that I like it, though maybe not quite as much as the first. It’s still bright and upbeat, but it’s also a lot louder, more confident and shows more willingness to take artistic risks. More on that later, once I’ve had more time to mull it over.As for Starfucker, well, I’ve been listening to their debut album pretty much nonstop, particularly “German Love,” a song that is catchy as HELL. I’ve had it on repeat for the past week. When I think of premiere up and coming Northwest electropop bands, it’s Starfucker and Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head that come to mind first. Also, Head Like A Kite and Daedelus. Of these, NPSH has been the most successful by far– and yet, I think they are the weakest of the three. Starfucker, in my opinion, makes music that is not only more fun to listen to, but far more innovative and interesting as well. Not that NPSH is bad– they just don’t do it for me the way Starfucker does.