I can't believe it hasn't occurred to me share this one after all this time (maybe another blogger had this comp covered and I simply forgot?). Anyway, the label that released
Pop Matters was also responsible for reissuing the
Paul Collins Band two albums on CD. Paul himself was co-executive producer for this sampler of then-current up and coming power pop troupes, and conveniently in the mid-90s practitioners of that stripe of music were enjoying something of a resurgence. There really aren't any household names on
Pop Matters to save mine, yours or anyone's life, but
The Tearaways, Grip Weeds, Cockeyed Ghost and
Jeremy (
Morris) all garnered a reasonable modicum of support in indie pop circles, and continued making albums long after this comp had come and gone. Talented as some of the other participants were, combos including
The Kicksouls, Million O' Clock, Prellys and
Twin Bees were scarcely whispered of again (or so it would seem). There are faint parallels to
...Matters and the
Yellow Pills compilations which were also a product of the same era. The consistency of what's presented here is remarkable, and despite a full quarter century sailing by the bulk of this disk is mightily effective. Dive in and discover a new-old favorite or two.
01-The Grip Weeds - Salad Days
02-The Hippycrickets - Margaret Sez
03-The Critics - Every Good Boy
04-The Tearaways - Never Again
05-Big Hello - Your Mad Mad World
06-Major Nelson - No Home Outside This House
07-The Rockinghams - More Than One Way
08-The Jennifers - Keep It Up
09-The Kicksouls - Chickie
10-Twin Bees - Daddy Works For The Crime
11-The Idea - Private World
12-Million O'Clock - January Fool
13-Jeremy - I Want To Be With You
14-Cockeyed Ghost - Dirty Bastard
15-Prellys - The Peace I Might Have Lost
Hear
3 comments:
No comments yet? Well, I'll chime for myself, some SEO juice for Sir Paul of Collins with a memory(or four) here.
Paul(Collins) and I met and hung out for a week at Poptopia 1996, drank blissfully, passionately bloviating and discussing power pop taking over the world(music industry be damned!), our respective vehicles pushing, pulling and trawling forward through whatever might come our way(me, Not Lame Recordings and he, Wagon Wheel Records), having lunch with Greg Shaw to discuss battle plans(he was mildly amused by our collective naiveté, I'm pretty sure but, hey, we took GREG SHAW out to lunch! Perfect.) and...well, a lot of great music memories but Pop Matters was Paul's initial move to anthologize his view(which was different than my own, all the better for it) of that current state of power pop. It was better, stronger and more traditional than my own take at the same time in early '95, SymPOPhony #1. (5 bands, 4 songs each on 1 CD!? It was a brilliant(sic) concept(not)!!)
His dream shortly dashed or derailed not long afterwards(not sure or don't recall what happened), I surged on until 2010, for plenty of better and worse. He did, however and importantly, continue to...CREATE what matters most anyway. The Music.
We were true believers, in early start-up mode that week in Los Angeles in 1996. Paul is a gem of man and a 'real old-school New Yorker' in the best application of the phrase. He brought power pop fans one of the absolutely great and downright perfect debuts of all time. Hard working, tough as nails, supremely talented and an optimist, always believing something better lay ahead. I've lost touch with this brother-in-arms but I'm fully confident he's not changed one-fricking-bit. God Bless Paul Collins.
1995-1999 were special years in the history of the genre and this comp captures a short but important front end chapter as the era shifted into gear.
Thanks for the great music you share. It's possible to reup this compilation?
Cheers, Riccardo.
request a re-up please
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