This Is Pop

Recently, I’ve started to become very interested in new wave music of the 70s and 80s – again. This same thing happened about two years ago and made me do some research about this amazing stuff and listen to some bands. Now I feel it’s even bigger than then. I feel the urge to listen to many, many bands. Unfortunately, I have to do other things, too, and therefore I can’t listen to music 24/7. Damn!

One of my very first new wave interests was the great British XTC. I listened to Fossil Fuel - The Singles 1977-92 and was quite puzzled at first. Slowly, I started noticing that these songs are actually great fun! I believe this was the big new wave breakthrough for me. I learned to see the beauty of Andy Partridge’s peculiar vocal style, those ultra fast-paced (and bouncy!) rhythms and various weird keyboard/synth lines, and that was it. I had fallen in love with XTC.

XTC’s early singles are hilarious! Science Friction, Statue of Liberty, Are You Receving Me?, and of course the new wave pop anthem This Is Pop are all perfect. Then, I also listened to XTC’s first album White Music (1978) and found more crazy stuff there, like I’ll Set Myself on Fire, a song that seems to be about... setting oneself on fire. Generally, XTC’s early music is labelled as punk, which I find a bit strange. It surely has some punk qualities, but I believe it’s still much weirder than Ramones and stuff. Punk, new wave, punk/new wave – who can really tell what music is what?

Then, I learned that XTC had also created some very much more traditional pop. I found Skylarking (1986), one of the greatest pop albums ever. Here, XTC’s music has basically turned into power pop. Produced by Todd Rundgren, Skylarking is a really wonderful album that combines traditional pop songwriting with some exciting and fresh arrangements. Basically, this album is a collection of songs of excellent quality. Grass, The Meeting Place, That's Really Super Supergirl, Ballet for a Rainy Day, Season Cycle, Earn Enough for Us – they’re all wonderful! In the end of the album you’ll also find several interesting tracks such as The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul, and of course Dear God, which was some sort of a hit in the 80s.

My knowledge of XTC surely is very limited, because I still have most of their albums unlistened. I think I’ll take advantage of this new wave affection that I have. Anyway, XTC is a huge influence in pop music. XTC’s influence can be heard in 90s and 00s power pop, for instance.

XTC on MySpace

The Rocking Spangles

Onechord.net is a great place for nice music tips. I spotted this album there on the forum and thought I could use some more rocking stuff. Nowadays, I stick to my dear power pop most of the time, so anything great and different is always welcome. Now, I’ve been listening to The Star Spangles’ Dirty Bomb (2007) for a couple of weeks and I think it’s awesome music.

To be honest, this album isn’t really very different from power pop… I think it actually is power pop most of the time. At some points it surely is rock instead of pop, but that’s a really good thing. I like music with loud, rocking sounds and rocking feel, so it really doesn’t have to be so powerpoppy all the time...

Melodic rock with excellent songs and sounds, solid instrumentation and nice vocals, music that is quite easy to listen to right from the start.. That’s all it takes to thrill me (and I don’t think it actually is that easy…). The Spangles present some very good songwriting on this album. My favourites include e.g. Make Yourself Useful Babe, Gangland, and I’m on a High. Tell Lies is a really entertaining Beatles-meets-Ramones song. This Side of the Sun is fabulous with its wonderfully easy-going beat. For me, that song has already become some sort of a summery anthem. Someone in You is a great ending to the album.

This is so great music. I really wouldn’t mind finding more bands with music that is this good. Onechord.net will probably help me with this a bit… That’s cool.

The Star Spangles at MySpace