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From Liverpool to you
International Pop Overthrow comes to Central Square
BY BRETT MILANO

Power-pop bands come in all shapes and sizes. They embrace different styles. In fact, they have only four things in common: John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

Power pop has gone in and out of style, but someone at the top of the charts always seems to be playing it — whether that’s Matthew Sweet, Weezer, or Fountains of Wayne. And there are always obsessed fans working overtime on pop’s behalf. High on that list is David Bash, the Los Angeles promoter who started International Pop Overthrow in 1998. Named after a Material Issue song, IPO has gotten bigger by the year, moving on to other cities. This year there was an IPO in power pop’s spiritual home, the Cavern Club in Liverpool.

The festival makes its Boston debut this weekend, running through Sunday at T.T. the Bear’s Place. Many of the names are familiar to local pop buffs, including the Irresponsibles and the Charms (tonight); the Rudds, Ad Frank, and Francine (tomorrow); Heavy Stud and Paula Kelley (Saturday); and Fooled by April (Sunday). What’s different is that nine bands per night play 20-minute sets, so any outfit with a few killer songs gets just enough time to play them. And a couple of surprises find their way into the line-up, including Saturday’s headliners, the Brain Surgeons — a New York band run by former Phoenix (and Village Voice) critic Deborah Frost and her husband, Blue Öyster Cult drummer/founder Albert Bouchard. Also playing Saturday are the Flashcubes, the Syracuse band who recorded the cult-classic single "Christi Girl" a quarter-century ago.

"Boston is probably the most eclectic array we’ve done," Bash acknowledges over his cell phone from New York, where I catch him browsing the Paul Revere & the Raiders bin at one of the city’s record stores. "You’ve got punk-pop bands like the Pills, softer pop like Paula Kelley, and more avant-garde things like Ad Frank. But they’re all bands that, in my opinion, fit within the framework of IPO — melodic, guitar-based music, with hooks and harmonies, that evokes the spirit of the ’60s without necessarily sounding like it’s from there. If we’re about anything, it’s about the way Top 40 radio used to be, and bringing that ethos back in modern pop music."

Los Angeles went through its own pop revival in the late ’90s, with a few bands that seemed poised for national breakouts. (Two have moved on to higher-profile back-up gigs: the Wondermints are now the core of Brian Wilson’s band, and Baby Lemonade make up Arthur Lee’s latest Love.) The West Coast scene has quieted down a bit since, but Bash maintains a true fan’s optimism. "The fact that I just heard you say the ‘P’ word is a good thing in itself," he argues after I mention pop. "You’re starting to see that word again on stickers that they put on CDs to describe the music. That’s something you didn’t see three years ago, because even bands who fell into the pop framework didn’t want to use the term; they thought it would stigmatize them as too retro. But some of the harder-rock bands are even using it now, to imply a sense of melody. And the labels are starting to look for bands that sound like Fountains of Wayne. So the mainstream has moved away from pop, but it’s due for a resurgence."

Singer/guitarist Brett Rosenberg is one of the folks who’ve been leading the resurgence in Boston. Still in his mid 20s, he’s made a load of music in the past few years, and he’ll be playing IPO with three different bands: his own Brett Rosenberg Problem, the Rudds, and Army of Jasons (this last is a fine melodic outfit led by Geoff Hayton, who also plays bass in the Problem). Although rooted in classic pop, Rosenberg’s songwriting has taken in some guitar heroics and ’60s soul — along with less trendy influences, like his enduring love for Billy Joel. "We get a lot of power-pop people at our shows, but we get a certain crossover with the college-geek thing — people who would normally be sitting at home listening to singer-songwriters." Pondering the power-pop movement, he notes that "there are a lot of bands out there who want to pretend the last 20 years never happened — which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. To me, power pop is something that started when a lot of leftover punk guys started trying to sound like the Beatles. But you also hear a lot of bands that sound like Big Star, with the edge taken out. Maybe we can get the edge back if we find a way to make everybody as miserable as Big Star."

Some of his own influences are a bit more contemporary. "I was 15 years old and still in my punk-rock phase when Guided by Voices came out. I heard them and thought, wow — you could be a contemporary artist and write something with a melody that’s really short but still has that sense of melancholy that makes it relate to your life. That’s when I realized that you didn’t have to be angry all the time; you could make music and enjoy it."

Rosenberg’s forthcoming Shock Twins (due next year on Sodapop) will probably pick up some GbV comparisons, if only because it’s a homemade album with 19 fairly short tracks. But it also finds him cutting loose as a songwriter, working in a wide range of styles — some dark and moody, some ridiculously hooky. The tracks were recorded as band demos before he decided to release them as is. "I guess I was tired of making records that sounded like everybody else’s — plus, this approach is a lot cheaper. There are a lot of mistakes on it, but people like to hear mistakes; it’s comforting. And the mistakes you make can be more indicative of who you are. So you can say that I’ve finally made it to the ’90s; I’ve made my indie-rock record."

The Flashcubes were around before power pop was a movement. Originally based in Syracuse, they were one of many bands who caught the power-pop bug in the late ’70s, had a blast for a few years, then split up by the turn of the decade. And like many bands of their era, they got more famous after the fact: their one and only single, "Christi Girl," was included on the Rhino label’s power-pop compilation Come Out & Play (1993). A British Invasion–style ballad, "Christi Girl" features jangly R.E.M. guitar years before that band formed. And it sits comfortably next to the better-known classics on the compilation — among them the Flamin’ Groovies’ "Shake Some Action" and the Real Kids’ "All Kindsa Girls." Two years later, Goldmine magazine did a feature on the Flashcubes and they became official cult heroes. They’ve been doing on-off reunion gigs ever since, joined sometimes by Ducky Carlisle — a friend and soundman from the Syracuse days, now a prominent Boston producer.

"I have no idea how it [the band’s revival] happened, but I’m glad it did," guitarist Paul Armstrong tells me. "The band started because we were all record collectors who worked at the same chain of music stores in upstate New York. We did pretty well back in the day; we were pretty big in Syracuse, started playing all over the place, and we had people talking. But we were all in our early 20s, so we were pretty young and stupid; we never got it together and moved to New York [City] like we should have." Armstrong moved to Boston instead; he’s been in town since 1983 and has led the bands 1-4-5 and the Richards.

The Flashcubes have taken better care of business the second time around, releasing three CDs: a live disc, an anthology of the old tapes, and a new studio album, Brilliant (out next year on Northside). Last Christmas, they were picked to open a New York show for current buzz band the Star Spangles. They’ve even been accorded the ultimate power-pop honor: getting big in Japan. After meeting some Japanese promoters at a previous IPO, the Flashcubes went over and played some well-received shows — not quite at Budokan, but at a couple of 500-seat clubs in Tokyo.

"It’s all happening because of ‘Christi Girl’ — all the record collectors keep finding out about that song," Armstrong says. "And it wasn’t even typical of what we did — we did the occasional minor chord, but we were really a punk band that dabbled in power pop. We still live in different locations, so it’s not a full-time gig at all. It feels like it did when we were young — the band’s a little club you have where you get to hang out with your buddies."

Being in a revived pop group has other advantages. Armstrong recalls sharing a recent Chicago bill with members of that city’s obscure pop heroes Pezband. "I go to the bathroom and realize I’m standing right next to [bassist] Mike Gorman. And I’m thinking, ‘Wow, here I am taking a leak right next to someone from the Pezband!’ "

The International Pop Overthrow festival runs through this Sunday, November 23, at T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline Street in Central Square; call (617) 492-BEAR.


Issue Date: November 21 - 27, 2003
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