Well, since there was a fairly positive response to a RRITW post on Power Pop I figure why not list a couple more tracks. The trade in lost Power Pop seems to range right up there with garage, psych and the lot, and there are certainly plenty of overlooked classics. These are a few of my favorites. (minus of course The Shoes and Milk n' Cookies featured a little bit ago)
[MP3] The Colors - Growing Up American
This has to be one of my favorites, right up there with Milk N' Cookies in the sorely overlooked bands category. Like M n' C they came up in the CBGB's scene but didn't take off, even after they became the club's official "house band". They've just recently had their sole album and a preceding EP reissued by Italian label "Rave Up Records".
[MP3] The Sponsors - In And Out of Love
Another New York band that embraces some great vocal harmonies, and though they may lack a bit of the Power in the Power Pop formula, they certainly make up for it with their jangly, catchy pop leanings. Again one sole LP that fell on many a deaf ear at the time.
[MP3] Green - Gotta Get A Record Out
This band hailed from Chicago and they touch on the common Power Pop themes of music, and recording that sometimes bubbled up in the place of constant yearning for love. The snotty vocal delivery on this one ties it closer to the garage tunes that preceded it but at its heart its a total Power Pop stunner.
[MP3] The Toms - (I Wanna Be A) Teen Again
Ringing in as probably the most soft and melodic of the bunch is this entry from The Toms. Though this captures the true spirit of what Power Pop was all about, and if you weren't actually 18 when you were in the scene, it seemed like most bands were trying to recapture that feeling. The Toms were actually just the solo project of Tom Marolda, and due to poor distribution this one fell quickly but sadly by the wayside.
[MP3] The Trend - She's Hi-Fi
The Trend hailed from the unlikely home of Columbia, MO though from the delivery it almost seems hard to believe that they weren't British. The band again taps into the snotty garage predecessors that lead the way to Power Pop. This band as with many others issued just one album before disappearing until some reissue attention of late.
[MP3] Chris Bell - Get Away
Well it wouldn't be fair to run up some Power Pop tracks without one inclusion from either Bell or Chilton and since I tend to like Chris' post Big Star work a bit better I'd have to pick this track. A definite echo of his former band runs through this track from the excellent "I Am The Cosmos" record.
[MP3] The Colors - Growing Up American
This has to be one of my favorites, right up there with Milk N' Cookies in the sorely overlooked bands category. Like M n' C they came up in the CBGB's scene but didn't take off, even after they became the club's official "house band". They've just recently had their sole album and a preceding EP reissued by Italian label "Rave Up Records".
[MP3] The Sponsors - In And Out of Love
Another New York band that embraces some great vocal harmonies, and though they may lack a bit of the Power in the Power Pop formula, they certainly make up for it with their jangly, catchy pop leanings. Again one sole LP that fell on many a deaf ear at the time.
[MP3] Green - Gotta Get A Record Out
This band hailed from Chicago and they touch on the common Power Pop themes of music, and recording that sometimes bubbled up in the place of constant yearning for love. The snotty vocal delivery on this one ties it closer to the garage tunes that preceded it but at its heart its a total Power Pop stunner.
[MP3] The Toms - (I Wanna Be A) Teen Again
Ringing in as probably the most soft and melodic of the bunch is this entry from The Toms. Though this captures the true spirit of what Power Pop was all about, and if you weren't actually 18 when you were in the scene, it seemed like most bands were trying to recapture that feeling. The Toms were actually just the solo project of Tom Marolda, and due to poor distribution this one fell quickly but sadly by the wayside.
[MP3] The Trend - She's Hi-Fi
The Trend hailed from the unlikely home of Columbia, MO though from the delivery it almost seems hard to believe that they weren't British. The band again taps into the snotty garage predecessors that lead the way to Power Pop. This band as with many others issued just one album before disappearing until some reissue attention of late.
[MP3] Chris Bell - Get Away
Well it wouldn't be fair to run up some Power Pop tracks without one inclusion from either Bell or Chilton and since I tend to like Chris' post Big Star work a bit better I'd have to pick this track. A definite echo of his former band runs through this track from the excellent "I Am The Cosmos" record.
7 Comments:
Why not mention that ALL of these are from the Yellow Pills Prefill comp?
That Hudson Bell song Slow Burn would do well here. Great list regardless.
fantastic! Keep doing more of this stuff for sure, but don't abandon the old-school nitty gritty garage rock though!
My definition of Power Pop is different from yours, I think. I wouldn't have classified any of these, really, as Power Pop.
Quite a few are from the Yellow Pills compilation but in truth the work that Jordan Oakes put into compiling them over his 4 original volumes and subsequent 2 disc Numero retrospective are probably the most complete I've seen. Plus they're usually the best sound quality versions of any of these tracks. Though The Colors have been recently reissued on vinyl and rightfully so. I'll never purport to be a completist when it comes to Power Pop (however you define it though these are mostly earlier examples of what came to be defined as Power Pop) so please feel free to share any tracks, bands etc that you like and that I've neglected. These as with all Jukebox posts were just a few of my favorites.
- D
'I Got Kinda Lost' - best rocking Chris Bell song? Danny
I had never heard of the Trend until I heard this song on a youtube clip. I really like this song, and I will now be seeking our more from the Trend.
Post a Comment
<< Home