Yes, this album proves once again that those wacky Canadians love their ska just as much as us Americans (and apparently love putting out ska compilations only slightly less). As ska comps go, this one's not bad -- some of the tracks on here are damn good, some are awful, and a lot of the rest range from okay to decent -- it covers the whole range, and encompasses a lot of very different styles of ska, as well. Venice Shoreline Chris' brilliant old-style "Brave New Brian" is right beside Whole Lotta Milka's more "standard" 3rd Wave ska sounds (with "Jackson Brown"), and not far off from the odd rock-ska of Flashlight (with "All I Ever") and the beautiful girl-group Studio One ska of The Skanksters' "Gone", and those songs more than make up for the few real clunkers on here (ex.: The Malchiks' "Lonely Rudie"; man, that guy's voice gets on my nerves). Plenty of good ska to keep your igloo warm during those harsh Canadian winters... (JH)
(STOMP Records -- 370 Putney St., St. Lambert, PQ, Canada J4P 3B6)

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Various Artists
From The Bullpen

This one's a fairly cool pop comp, as they go -- actually, I take that back; after a few listens, most of these songs are stuck in my head for what feels like forever. It's all pretty disparate, ranging from sweet, pretty pop songs to punkish lo-fi rock, but I'd say the folks who put this together have a pretty good ear for cool, not-real-well-known bands...
Tracks I particularly like: the amazing indie-rock/pop Silver Scooter track, "Holding the Flare"; the sugary, Cardigans-esque pop of Jumprope; Belmondo's Magnetic Fields-like melancholy "Paris Kiss"; the overloaded coolness of The Velmas' "Thinker-n-Blue"; The Philistines Jr.'s bizarre little pop story "As I Went Out One Morning"; and the really addictive "Lonely For Lonely's Sake," by June Panic. Overall, a really cool look at a huge pile of bands that deserve lots and lots of money and recognition... (so give it to 'em, dammit!) (JH)
(Hey Buddy Records -- P.O. Box 2153, Bloomington, IN. 47402; thatch@indiana.edu)

Various Artists
Poptopia!

Power pop junkies are a proud bunch: proud of our history, proud of our future (the latter, of course, very closely resembles the former). It is with us in mind that Rhino (as always, the finest of music-snob reissue labels) offers three CDs of Poptopia!, one disc for each of the last three decades of power pop. If it's an accurate snapshot (and the not-quite-aboveground nature of the music makes it hard to really tell), then I guess things are back on track after a smooth start and a bumpy second act.
The '70s disc is the optimal place to start, but it also demonstrates the flaws in the reissue game: a good hunk of this stuff is available on other Rhino compilations (including the DIY series), and any power popper worth his skinny tie already has the Big Star, Todd Rundgren and Nick Lowe songs on their original albums. But what songs they are! Kick off with the sheer oomph of the Raspberries' "Go All The Way," and watch how the band refused to allow then-leader Eric Carmen's being a total pussy to stand in the way of rocking out. Many of the songs are gimmes, like Big Star's "September Gurls" (duh), the Flamin' Groovies' blueprint-sketching "Shake Some Action," (double duh) and Bram Tchaikovsky's oft-maligned, never-bettered "Girl Of My Dreams" (come on, people!), but a few suprises lurk: a forgotten Badfinger cut, the Knack's damn near pornographic "Good Girls Don't" (I can see why it was a hit but not how they ever got it on the radio) and 20/20's "Yellow Pills," a rare early example of synthesizers sneaking their way into what was otherwise two guitars, bass, drums. Probably not necessary for the connossieur, but an excellent introduction to the curious.
The '80s disc is the most troubling. It starts out great with the Romantics' "What I Like About You" (a fine, fine song unfairly appropriated by sporting arenas worldwide), rolls for another five songs or so and the drops like a stone until the Smithereens start cleanup towards the end with "Behind The Wall Of Sleep." The problem would seem to be evident: plenty of pop, not enough power. I'd point to the closer, "There She Goes" by the La's, as an example, except for the fact that it's a brilliant, transcendent pop moment, and most of the other "power"-less songs are not, which gives the impression of darker forces at work. The great songs are few, far between and available on much better albums. Completists will feel obligated to buy this, but it's the weakest of the set.
The '90s disc is premature, incomplete (which the liner notes acknowledge) and awesome. The songs that everybody already owns (Matthew Sweet's always-terrific "I've Been Waiting," the Lemonheads' symphony to puppy love "Into Your Arms," Jellyfish's Supertrampy "That Is Why") are the weakest. Even when, echoes of the '80s disc, it turns down the power (Ride's misplaced but lovely "Twisterella," Velocity Girl's spiky and kooky "Can't Stop Smiling"), the sheer pop rush of the songs makes up for any straying in the tried-and-true formula. But then it happens: you get slammed by the harmonies of the Rooks' ridiculously sublime "Reasons," the glammy punk of Redd Kross's groupie love song "Lady In The Front Row" and the Velvet Crush's anthemic "Hold Me Up," and it's over. After a short nap in the mid-'80s, power pop has revived and redefined itself for all those who stayed up listening to "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "Teenage Kicks" and wondering at what point unselfconscious innocence died forever. The trick is, it didn't. You just have to know where to look. (MH)
(Rhino Records)

If you ask around, chances are you'll find that everybody's got a different definition of what constitutes "emo" -- heck, when I ran down a list of bands I thought were emo for a more clued-in friend of mine, he kinda shrugged and said they were all "borderline"... So who knows what the fuck "emo" is -- it doesn't really matter, anyway, except to elitist whiners. What's important is that a lot of the bands that fall under the "emo" banner are fucking amazing, powerful and intense -- and coolly enough, a lot of those bands are represented here. Really, there are only a few unifying elements throughout -- lots of quiet-loud changes; strained, emotional vocals; general melancholy themes of loss & love & stuff like that; and plenty of way-cool rhythms. Beyond that, though, there are more differences than similarities...
The folks at Deep Elm haven't tried to define the genre, but have instead gathered together some of the brightest lights in the current scene, and the result's a truly great record. Highlights include Jimmy Eat World's blazing "Opener," a heartbreakingly painful track by Pohgoh, a freaking great Samiam song, and the very Sunny Day Real Estate-ish Camber track, "Sunday Brown & Green," with a couple of nice surprises like the Lazycain track (man, I was sooo afraid it'd turn into Korn, after the intro), a cool instrumental by Race Car Riot, and Red Level's "Turn It On." I think I'm more than a little curious to see where this series goes from here... (JH)
(Deep Elm Records -- P.O. Box 1965, New York, NY. 10156)

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The Vehicle Birth
Tragedy

Call it modern prog if you want, but I still think Slint were one of the most amazing bands to ever put sound on plastic, and I'm very happy to see that a few bands (like The Vehicle Birth) have taken and improved upon the band's legacy. The Vehicle Birth utilize a number of Slint-esque dynamics -- plenty of that quiet-loud stuff, speaking rather than singing, etc. -- but manage to pair it with more of a "rock" sensibility, often veering close to Polvo territory ("Marathon"). Tracks like "We Need to Find the Girls" and "The Discovery of Oxygen" simmer darkly alongside yell-along almost-rock like "Yankeedom" and "23," which reminds me of fellow odd-rock guys Modest Mouse more than anything (love that organ, by the way). And through it all, The Vehicle Birth manage to play music that's intensely beautiful but still somehow unsettling. (JH/Spring 1999)
(Crank! Records -- 1223 Wilshire Blvd. #823, Santa Monica, CA. 90403; fan@crankthis.com; http://www.crankthis.com/)