Yellow Pills- Prefill Numero 004

Camino del Sol The best French-Belgian electro-samba record you've never heard. Antena's Camino Del Soul was first released in September 1982 as 5-song, 18-minute mini-LP on the elusive Brussels label, Les Disques Du Crepuscule. Numero 002 contains re-mastered versions of the original Camino De...	Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up Never heard of the funky soul and reggae music of Belize, that sliver of Caribbean coastline just east of Guatemala and south of Cancun? You're probably not alone, and the Belize City Boil Up compilation (the 6th this year from crate-digging music salvagers the Numero Group) is ...	Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal is a sweet selection of African-American gospel with mostly obscure acts from the late 1960s and early 1970s. This is that era of gospel that gave us Andrea Crouch and the Disciples and the crossover hits from the Staple Singers. Decidedly well afte...	Destination Bomp	Jesus of Cool If you have a dog-eared copy of Nick Lowe's Pure Pop for Now People, here is your chance to revitalize. That 1978 record, an ingenious and melodic pop gem, is really the Americanized version of Jesus of Cool, Lowe's European debut, released the year after his departure from pub-r...
Eccentric Soul: Twinight's Lunar Rotation Chalk up another shoot-the-moon collection of long-lost soul to the master excavators at the Numero Group. Upping the ante to a two-disc set accompanied by trivia-filled liner notes, Twinight's Lunar Rotation is a treasure chest--40 tracks of sweaty, sassy R&B goodness, churned o...	The Roots of Powerpop Power pop was one of those things that just had to be, somehow--an attempt to recapture the giddy feeling of '60s pop with the energy of punk. So how come it wasn't new wave, anyway? Simply put, to a lot of people, it was. And here, in one place, you can hear some of the early (a...	Eccentric Soul: The Capsoul Label How does a record become a hit? As history has shown, for every chart-topper, there are easily 10 equally well-made and compelling songs which never become widely-known. Case in point: Eccentric Soul: The Capsoul Label, documenting the tiny Columbus, Ohio label's output during th...	Drop Out With the Barracudas On CD for the first time, this album has been digitally re-mastered and includes bonus tracks and previously unreleased material 'Chevy Baby', 'Barracuda Waver', Surfers Are Back', 'Rendevous', 'The K.G.B. (Made A Man Out Of Me)', 'Ballad Of A Liar', Gotta Get A Gun', Grammar Of...	D.I.Y.: Teenage Kicks: UK Pop I (1976-79)

Pass the Syrup Please.
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.

Great Pop
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!

Many Gems, But Slightly Less Wonderful Than Earlier Volumes
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.)

I Need That Record, I Want It Now!!!
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.