Customer Reviews

Yellow Pills: Prefill Numero 004

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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You may have heard of Shoes, but unless you're compiler Jordan Oakes, chances are you've never heard of Luxury, The Speedies, The Toms, The Trend, or any of the rest of these bands. It doesn't matter--after one listen to this brilliant compilation you'll be humming along to all these bands. Oakes, who published Yellow Pills magazine a few years back, has called power pop "the great lost genre of rock and roll". This is power pop at it's greatest level, by long forgotten bands from the seventies and eighties (mostly) that should have had hits. The songs range from smooth production Beach Boys like harmonies to songs that are a little rough around the edges. Don't dismiss this stuff as skinny tie new wave bands that haven't held up well--the hooks in these songs are timeless. This is summer music, blast it from the car and drive fast with the windows down and the radio (well, the CD player) on, just like Jonathan Richman said. This is a great compliation, and every fan of rock and roll should be grateful to Jordan Oakes for making this stuff available again. Highly recommended.

Okay, let me just state the obvious: I love Power Pop. I worship at the alter of Big Star, the Flamin' Groovies and Cheap Trick. I don't, however, have the encylopedic knowledge of the genre that Jordan Oakes has, nor do I have nearly as formidable a collection of Power Poppers as does Mr. Oakes. I have heard most of the heavy hitters, and I have quite a few compilations of the more obscure artists (The Shivvers, anyone?). So this collection is right up my alley. After scanning the tracklisting, I was excited because I had only heard of three bands on the compilation (really only two, because the Bats as another reiviewer already pointed out, was not the New Zealand band but rather an obscure Boston band). The Toms and Shoes aside, there is nothing on either of these two discs that will have you scratching your head as to why these acts didn't get greater recognition during their period of activitiy-- I mean how many Power Pop bands actually have lucrative careers?

That said, there are some really fine pop songs here. "Green Hearts" by Luxury kicks off disc one in superb fashion. Jangly guitars, hand claps and a sing-along chorus . . . It's almost too good. The level of anticipation for the rest of the compilation gets ratcheted way up. Then those power chords at the beginning of track two, the Tweeds' "I need that Record," kick in, and you think you have stumbled upon the greatest Power Pop compilation of all time. That song quickly degenerates into merely a decent Slade knockoff and a level of dissapointment starts to creep in. It is at this point that the pragmatist in you must perservere, because you are NOT going to find anything on par with Badfinger or the Raspberries here. What you will find are some fine examples of underground pop. Each and every one of you that takes the plunge into this compilation will find something you love. I mean if you're interested enough to even consider spending thirty bucks on a Power Pop compilation of bands you've never heard, I can safely assume that there is going to be something here that is right in your ballpark. It may be the the aforementioned Luxury tune, or the pop-punk of the Speedies, or the faux Brit-pop of Boston's Bats-- every sub-genre of Power Pop is represented!

One final caveat, and really my only complaint with the compilation. Jordan Oaks does a superb job with the liner notes, but one can't help but feel a little cheated that there are no recording details. I, for one, would like to know when and where a particular song was recorded. Who played what and who-- if anyone-- was fiddling with the dials when this stuff was put to tape? None of this seemingly important info is to be found anywhere in the fabulous packaging of this compilation. Knowing how [...] Power Pop afficianodos can be, this seems like gross negligence on the part of The Numero Group.

Plenty of great (if inessential) power pop gems here. Sadly, the first three volumes of Yellow Pills are currently out of print and hard to track down, as I find those to have a bit more bang for the buck. Not that this is dissatisfying, but it does lean a bit more towards the more jagged and angular end of the power pop spectrum, with less of that super-melodic, chock full o' harmonies pop found elsewhere. Incidentally, contrary to what's stated in the official Amazon.com editorial review, the Bats found here are a Boston group, not the New Zealand band. (New Zealand's Bats are not power pop, but are still phenomenal, and if you don't own their fantastic album Daddy's Highway you're really missing out.)

Great CD, would highly recommend. Nice to see the Trend still available. (Ole Miss/eighties/u werent there/u missed it!)

Excellent music I personally use on the way to work in the morning AND on the way home!