Saturday, December 26, 2020

V/A - Popcan - (A Refreshing Taste Of Pure Canadian Pop) (1997, Alert)

Had a relatively recent request for this one. Along with Rhino Record's Poptopia collections and Big Deal's renown Yellow Pills series, 1997's Popcan compilation went a long way in whetting my appetite to take a closer look under the under the hood of this life affirming venture we refer to as "power pop."  As opposed to the other aforementioned compendiums, Popcan differed in several respects, particularly due to the fact that it consisted exclusively of (then) current Canadian artists - and it came in a single serving. No additional volumes came to pass as it presumably wasn't designed to be a series.  Pretty much one-and-done here, but I kind of wish there had been a follow-up, as this disk exposed me to some seriously phenomenal combos.  Yes, there's an abundance slotting in the power pop realm - Sour Landslide, Cool Blue Halo, The Nines, and Admiral among several others, but Punchbuggy and Shortfall leaned into something more vigorous, a la the Doughboys, while Noah's Arkweld and By Divine Right subscribed to a craftier indie rock aesthetic. Sixteen different flavors in all to sample from this fizzy, overflowing can.  One (or more) is just right for you.  Enjoy responsibly.  

01. The Roswells - Like It This Way
02. By Divine Right - Fearless
03. Granny - Baby Baby
04. Cool Blue Halo - Too Much Kathleen
05. Universal Honey - Wouldn't Wanna Be In Your Shoes
06. Admiral - A Million Ways to Go
07. Crimson - Some Other Guy
08. Noah's Arkweld - Mornin'
09. The Nines - Ghost Town Saturday
10. Sour Landslide - Hired Goons
11. Shyne Factory - Pop Song
12. New Deposits - Mother Molotov
13. Shortfall - Drive
14. Minstrels - These Days
15. Cinnamon - Another Edit
16. Punchbuggy - Karen

Hear

7 comments:

Josef Kloiber said...

Many thanks!

George Leroy Tirebiter said...

Porgie says get this for By Divine Right's "Fearless" if for no other reason. Tis a great comp & fun listen throughout.

dd said...

thx a bunch for this one! Any chance of a re-up of the Cost of Living albums?

Unknown said...

I saw this comp and was hoping to see something from Robin Sparkles. "Let's Go To The Mall" or "Sandcastles In The Sand". How disappointing. :-)

Jim H. said...

thanks yet again....another disc that i had at one point and seemed to lost somewhere!!!!

Bruce Brodeen said...

Totally forgot about this one! Not Lame imported these when it came out, "Kangaroo" by Cool Blue Halo was one of my favorite Canadian band releases from this era...a great one to track down for folks into the 90s power pop scene.

passepartout78 said...

Could you please reup this very hard to find compilation.
Thank a lot.