Regarding that later Chad Smith lineup of Toby Redd, the band released their second full length, In the Light for Nemperor Records in 1986, which startlingly enough was reissued for Record Store Day just two years ago.
01. Can't Get a Job
02. Double Timed
03. More Time
04. Make it Up to You
05. Harry's Alright
06. It Ain't Me Babe
07. Won't Get Far
08. City
09. Why Can't I
10. Melea
The tale of fellow Wisconsinites Breck Burns and Scott Krueger began when the two met in the early '70s as teenagers, but the world (or at least the country...or maybe just the state) at large didn't pull them up on radar until their first serious band, The Orbits made inroads in the power-pop circuit via their brilliant 1980 7" "Make the Rules," which I'll get to a bit later. Almost simultaneous to The Orbits, the duo alongside Scott's girlfriend Jill Kossoris would become part and parcel of one of Milwaukee's most renown unsigned bands, the Shivvers. The Shivvers. and their incendiary 45, "Teenline" (another crucial 45 blast from '80) were quite literally a story and phenomenon unto themselves.
The real meat and potatoes of this post concerns Breck and Scott's work post-Orbits/Shivvers, which was well hidden until the Hyped to Death folks did more of their crucial excavation efforts, yielding this cd-r album in the mid '00s. Still residing in WI throughout most of the '80s the duo in question had no good excuse not to continue collaborating, even if they kept their recordings to themselves, which they did for almost a couple of decades. Per the liner notes, they never bothered to field tapes to labels, and from what I've been able to glean never played out. The high strung, punky power-pop of the Orbits and Shivvers was largely phased out by the mid '80s when Breck & Scott's commenced recording sessions semi-informally in their spare time. With a more mature and seasoned acumen in hand, and best of all, no record label or management hovering over their shoulders, our protagonists weren't informed by any pretensions or even the prevailing trends of the era. Oddly enough, with a lack of supervision (so to speak) the boys sounded doubly more disciplined on Dream You Away's dozen or so tracks, most of which exude surprisingly clean and measured tones, without sapping any of the songs' natural energy. The overall effect isn't quite as charming as say, Big Star or Velvet Crush, but not entirely removed thereof either. A more accurate comparison might be Butch Vig's pre-stardom outfit, Fire Town. The strummy "Without a Sound," the gritty and muscular "Day Into Night" not to mention the wistful ballad "Let Me Know" are all immaculate keepers...and there's more gold where that came from.
Dream You Away thoughtfully, and for that matter, crucially appends The Orbits aforementioned lone single, two frenetic power pop bangers, laced with the same mid-fidelity aptitude that worked wonders for the Shoes on their contemporary platter Black Vinyl Shoes, and maybe to a less obvious extent what the Plimsouls were up to around the same juncture. If you're hungry for more than just a pair of two-minute Orbits tunes (and who wouldn't be) four unreleased demos are graciously tacked on.
Breck and Scott
01. Dream You Away
02. On My Roof
03. Look What You've Done to Me
04. You're in Love
05. She Won't Change
06. Alone
07. Without a Sound
08. Frank Lloyd Wright
09. Day Into Night
10. Pine Circle
11. Here and Now
12. Let Me Know
13. Day Into Night (live)
The Orbits
14. Phenomenal World
15. Make the Rules
16. Having Fun
17. Smart Suit, Shirt &Tie
18. Until the Word Gets Out
19. The Waiting Game
Though it may not have been a deliberate gesture on their part, rarely has a moniker so aptly summed up a band's m.o. Regular Guys were a turn-of-the-decade Lawrence, KS contingent who played power-pop inclined rock 'n roll, pretty much straight down the middle, with no oblique angles or artsy proclivities. Perhaps a tad too non-descript on some levels, they played a linear but potent game not unlike their midwest contemporaries Off Broadway (USA), Secrets and Hawks.
During their lifespan they managed to eke out a remarkably memorable 1980 ep, It's a Secret, but it wasn't until 20+ years later that the full extent of their recordings were made available to the world at large. Jayhawk Pop, commences with the four cuts from It's a Secret, and for it's plentiful remainder the compilation, traces the history of a slightly different permutation of the Guys, with Dave Stuckey replacing original guitarist/mouthpiece Mark Gilman. And it's not all straight-up power pop either, as the Regular Guys explored related tangents such as proto-punk, roots rock, and less obviously Americana. The booklet, which I've scanned in, provides a more thorough backgrounder on the band than I ever could, and there are generous track-by-track liner notes to boot from bassist John Odell. So dig in. The full track list is to your left.
This isn't a rerun, rather a continuation of the Powerpearls series of compilations I shared three years ago. In 2016 I made volumes 1 & 2 available, and this year I'm giving you the fourth and fifth installments. Why no Vol. 3? Well, I haven't come across the third one, not in the wild anyways. To get a better gist of what the Powerpearls m.o. is please refer to the link above, which lays things out nicely. For the uninitiated, the Powerpearls serial were glorified, not to mention fairly well assembled DIY compilations of rare(ish) vinyl singles that hit in the late 70s/early 80s of long departed obscure power-pop and melodic punk acts that most of us wouldn't have encountered otherwise. An unfortunate thing that would be, because the majority of what's presented is of par excellence quality. In short, they're perfectly curated for the aesthetics of the very site you're visiting right now. Also, the emphasis is predominantly on European artists, contrary to the like-minded Teenline series which was exclusively America-centric
Each of these two platters consist of 18 songs apiece. And while I went to the effort of providing a track list below, I'm not going to have time to profile everyone on board. Nonetheless, if you're looking for a shortcut or two I'd be happy to disclose a few of the highlights. Vol 4. breathes life into under-examined 45" wonders from English power-chord bashers 23 Jewels, The Elevators, Resistors and Geneva. The Innocents, a female fronted UK export, deliver the exceptional "One Way Love" sounding a hell of a lot more visceral than Blondie of the Go Gos ever did. Holland's Princes of Piece turn up with a hook-laden slammer that I'd desperately like to hear more of, and there's even a Canadian entry by way of an early Blue Peter cut, before they went snyth-pop and eschewed their bratty sensibilities. And I'd be remiss if I neglected to mention The Keys "I Don't Want to Cry," a primo, Beatles-indebted slice of power pop that arguably beat the Fab Four at their own game. 
Powerpearls Vol. 5 couldn't commence with a stronger contender than one of Stiff Records finest stablemates, Any Trouble, only to be matched a little further in by my faves The Freshies with one of their signature numbers, "Oh Girl." And there's scads more gold to be plundered in these hills - The Snips, Time Wasters, Boyfriends, and Young Lords among others. A couple of American entries on this one, and pretty fantastic ones in my opinion, specifically the Windbreakers and The Jetboys. I'm under the impression that each of these comps included one token Netherlands act, and the contestant on Vol. 5 is the Undertones-inflected Rotjoch. And not to overlook the land down under, Australia's in the house with a strummy tune by Division 4. By the way, don't be scared off by the non-English singing entrants either. 
Volume 1
Where do I begin with this one? My first observation is that for a compilation this common, I'm surprised it hasn't been digitized elsewhere in the blogosphere. At any rate, just about of all the songs here are of a brief era when AOR/power-pop/new wave could successfully intermingle with virtually no clear cut demarcations. Yes, this is that 415 Records, the San Francisco imprint that would eventually hop into bed with CBS Records (i.e. Sony) and release full lengths by "serious" nationally known acts like Wire Train and Translator in the mid-80s. I regard those two examples as "serious," in comparison to the considerably more lighthearted and occasionally frivolous roster showcased on 415 Music. Several of the young hopefuls here would fit in like a glove on Hyped to Death's Teenline anthologies - Times 5, Jo Allen and the Shapes, and The Donuts all delivering peppy, melodious, and most importantly, substantive tunes that really warranted exposure beyond this disk. The Offs, Mutants, and my favorites, SVT (whose "Heart of Stone" is a must hear) would record singles for 415 Records as well, some preceding the release of 415 Music. Elsewhere, Sudden Fun offer a slice of Pezband/Romantics-esque slice of pop, The Symptoms vaguely mimic the Dickies template, while an undercurrent of minimalist synths informs The VIP's "She's a Put On."
Once in awhile, gambling at the Casino Ebay really pays off (accurately judging an album by it's jacket factors in heavily folks). So it was a relatively safe assumption that The Fan Club had "power pop" written all over them, it was just a matter of what stripe. If you're at all familiar with the quasi-bootleg Teenline and Powerpearls compilation series, these New York co-eds will likely be of some interest. A few notches shy of punk, yet wielding plenty of spunk, the Fan Club evoke the likenesses of the Pointed Sticks, the Speedies, and the (Connecticut) Bats in terms of approach, and sheer melodicism, which is never in short supply here. "Just Another Kiss," "My Baby Loves It" and "I Won't Take It" are all pretty outstanding. As for the album title, it would seem 15:20 references the length of this all too brief ep. 
Sounding remarkably straightlaced for a band emanating from the oft remarked hotbed of Athens, GA, The Surf owed zilch to the likes of REM and Pylon. Funny that. Instead, the quintet released this accomplished power pop ep in the mold of The Producers and Fools Face, offering an array of stupefyingly killer hooks. Keyboards thoughtfully embellish The Surfs modus operandi, without dominating (though they conveniently lend themselves to the slick '80s mix Out of Step is for better or worse seeped in). Excellent songs all the way around that fall more in the Yellow Pills realm than Teenline. The only anomaly here is the concluding "I Don't Lie," which at it's entrance comes barreling down Romantics alley, copping a sliver or two of "What I Like About You," before recovering into something less plagiaristic. Sorry if the audio is a little choppy in spots, due to the crackly slab of vinyl that these tracks are sourced from.
01. This Time
02. Here We Go Again
03. Dance of the '80s
04. Please Surrender
05. Stealaway the Night
06. I Don't Lie
This gem of an album could have easily slipped by if it wasn't for the good people at Hyped to Death. Were I not fortunate enough to obtain a copy of their Teenline Vol. 3 compilation, of lost and under appreciated American indie bands from the '70s-80s, Nashville's Shakers would be entirely unknown to me and furthermore, you. Coming across as if it were a classic Don Dixon or Mitch Easter production, Desired Effect impresses with a wellspring of persistently jangly guitar chords, a la Dreams So Real and The Plimsouls. By no means start-to-finish par excellence, (not to mention leaning a bit AOR at times), this albums exemplary "Turn You Down," "Change My Mind," and the well-chosen Teenline comp selection, "All Tied Up," are good as gold. Desired Effect comes courtesy of the presumably short-lived Hit-A-Note label, whom have released other records that may or may not appear on this site.
