Tag: power pop

559. Redd Kross

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(April 2024) Episode 559 is REDD KROSS. They provided a combination of hard guitars and melodic songcraft that filled the gap between 1970s power pop and the 1990s pop punk and power pop revival. LA-area brothers Jeff and Steven McDonald started out with a punk sound but added the melodies by the late 1980s. By its label I should be all over this, but I found the sum less than the parts. Generally their songs lack the hooks that I look for in power pop songs, although their two 2010s albums did do a better job at that.

Favorite album: Researching the Blues

Favorite song: The Nu Temptations

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: The two 2010s albums, but I suspect that true fans will point to their 1980 EP.

519. The Muffs

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(September 2023) Episode 519 is THE MUFFS, the perfect combination of pop-punk and power-pop,* melding the tone of the former and the melodicism of the latter.  Kim Shattuck’s snotty snarl hits just the right attitude which, along with the unadorned delivery, makes it endearing. Their kicker tempo is what brings you in, but it’s Shattuck’s gift for melodic lines (and lyrics) that will keep you and make you want to revisit.

Favorite album: Blonder and Blonder

Favorite song: Agony

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: I do. I wish I had known them (and seen them) in the 1990s rather than finding them decades later.

* I know some people might say one is a subset of the other, but it’s my blog = my definitions.

288. The Three O’Clock

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(October 2020) Episode 288 is THE THREE O’CLOCK.  I’m surprised I never got into deeper the Paisley Underground (beyond The Bangles), but The Three O’Clock is a good place to start.  The first 3½ albums are quality Brit-philic power pop, but the last two are synth pop abominations.  Quercio’s voice can get a bit too twee.

Favorite album: Sixteen Tambourines

Favorite song: Jet Fighter

Compared to expectations: same

239. Nazz

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(November 2019) Episode 239 is NAZZ. This psychedelic-tinged group out of Philadelphia enjoyably touched the sounds of the late 60s.  As the launching pad for Todd Rundgren, Nazz also, not surprisingly, previewed power pop and soft rock.

Favorite album: Nazz

Favorite song: Open My Eyes

Compared to expectations: same

Nazz

189. Elvis Costello

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(November 2018) I have completed episode 189 of my “opus project.” This edition: ELVIS COSTELLO. I’ve always enjoyed his popular songs, but I never collected his albums. Arguably the most gifted living songwriter not named McCartney, Dylan or Simon, he is also incredibly prolific (a new release every 16 months over four decades) and diverse (rock, lounge, jazz, country, classical). He best work is in rock, and I find his crooner/lounge pop recordings to be almost unlistenable: ill-suited to his voice and soured by his tendency to melodic wandering.

Favourite album: Armed Forces

Favourite song: Veronica

Compared to expectations: ↓

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Worst album: Kojak Variety

Favourite late-period album: Momofuku

Best collaboration: Wise Up Ghost (with The Roots)

169. Badfinger

~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(June 2018) I have completed episode 169 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: BADFINGER. One of the three Pillars of Power Pop (along with Big Star and the Raspberries). No one excelled at the power ballad quite like Badfinger.

Favorite album: Straight Up

Favorite song: No Matter What

Hidden Gem: the first album (Maybe Tomorrow, issued as The Iveys), with period-apt psychedelics and baroque pop

Compared to expectations: same

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85. The Cars

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(May 2016) I have completed episode 85 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: THE CARS. I rediscovered that their first couple of albums are so fun and hook-filled; almost all the songs on the first recording were radio hits. Their outputs fades as they move into the 1980s and the synths and echo drums take over.

Favorite album: The Cars

Favorite song: Just What I Needed

Worst album: Door to Door

Return to form: their 2011 reunion album Move Like This

Compared to expectations:  same

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83. The Bangles

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(April 2016) I have completed episode 83 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s complete discography. This edition: THE BANGLES. Don’t laugh.   Strip away the 80s veneer, you find some catchy songs inspired by their power pop and garage band idols. (The silly Walk Like an Egyptian is an exception not the rule.)

Favorite album: All Over the Place

Favorite song: Hero Takes a Fall

Compared to expectations:  same

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