This is Pop? Pt. 2

Kitsch, kitsch, kitsch. This seems to be what most people seem to associate with power pop nowadays, not great bands like Big Star, The Raspberries, The Only Ones, The Scruffs, The Shoes, and the dBs. Somewhere along the last thirty years, the line between power pop and pop punk got blurry. I like my power pop not so sugar sweet, more on the morose-lone-figure-under-street-light-montage-of-what-could've-been-playing-in-head-runed-manside, preferably with a fast tempo and a lick of the unusual. So, now it's time to push my taste upon you.

The Infidels- Can't Make You Mine/Everywhere I Go

I like just about anything with a harmonica in it. Seriously. It's bad. So when I first heard this single, rife with raw frustration, leaning almost toward Smithereens territory but more upbeat, and, of course, filled with harmonica, I was smitten. One of those small miracles made by teenage boys from the middle of nowhere (West Middlesex, PA), this record is catchy as hell. It's filled with malaise, a mix of everything good that came out of alternative rock music in the 80s, sparsity and 60s purism. I'm also sure all the input the lads got from Frank Secich (Blue Ash, a stint in the Dead Boys, etc) didn't hurt the creative process either.

The Necessaries- You Can Borrow My Car/Runaway Child (Minors Beware)

Okay, so it's no secret that The Necessaries win for most direct titling of songs nor is this some obscure gem that nobody knows about. I am writing about this because it is a perfect 7" slab of power pop. Produced by John Cale, it's fast and reckless, like any 60s pop act on speed, with some nice glottal affected vocals. Oh yeah, if you think this is good and want to hear it, do not I repeat do not buy their full length LP. Stick to the 7" or have fun kicking yourself.

Celia and the Mutations- You Better Believe Me/Round and Around

Everyone has a vice; Jean-Jacques Burnel's seems to have been making records with pretty girls. While the Stranglers in their entirety acted as the backing band for Celia Collin's first single, Mony Mony/Mean to Me, Burnel alone stuck around to back Celia on her second (and in my opinion far better) single. The vocals on You Better Believe Me carry the jerkiness and urgency of a Rough Trade band like Kleenex or Delta 5, but Burnel's solid pop bass line and the standard catchy format keep the song solidly in the faster vein of power pop. Round and Around will stick in your head for days, possibly for life after hearing it, a great feat considering the song's brevity. It's a pouty heartbreak song that strikes as sincere, not cute.