The surname may have a familiar ring—Tal Bachman is in fact related to Randy Bachman of The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. But that’s where the connection ends. With a musical debt to late Beatles, ELO, and Cheap Trick, Bachman is the rare artist who concentrates on writing great songs and not trying to capitalize on musical fads or fitting into the ever-shrinking and narrow genres with which we are now overwhelmed. The songs manage to sound like instant rock classics, with their killer hooks, soaring power pop guitars, and self-assured vocals. Bachman generously tosses in falsetto vocals, recalling the melodies of Jeff Lynne’s ELO, but never sounding cheesy. Case in point is “She’s So High,” a pop song so perfectly catchy and brilliantly arranged that, in a perfect world, it would be a number-one single for weeks. For a debut, it’s quite a remarkable achievement. Bachman has developed a fully-formed sound that both inherits the legacy of great rock’n'roll and builds a launching pad for a long, fruitful musical career.