POP AID 3: A Power Pop Comp To Benefit Those Affected By The California Wildfires
Lately we’ve seen out fair share (and then some) of war and natural disaster. Over the past several years, labels such as Kool Kat Musik have done their best to ease the pain of those affected through aid related releases. Such is the case with POP AID 3: A Pop Compilation To Benefit Those Affected By The California Wildfires”, a 30 track, 2CD collection of exclusive/previously unreleased tracks. 100% of the profits from the release go directly to American Red Cross relief efforts. Best of all, it’s wall to wall new music from your power pop favorites.
A Power Pop Time Warp
There’s a lot to unpack here so I’m just going to touch on the best of the best (and they’re all damn good – impressive for a double album!). The tribal beat of The Trafalgars’ “Hip Young Man” leads into a memorable up-beat rocker. Springsteen would be jealous of Scott McCarl’s “Blow This Town”. There is no more radio friendly track than Orbis Max & Tim Izzard’s “Further Down The Line” and Richard Turgeon’s guitars sound as great as ever in “Hit My Ceiling”. His lyrical content never fails to knock me out.
The PoZers’ “Upon Wakening From This Dream” will pull you through the musical timewarp to a wonderful time long ago. Few people around today write a catchier melody than Brent Seavers and he’s back with The Lucky Shots’ “Something To Say”. It’s the perfect track for the next Austin Powers Movie. Herb Eimerman channels Roger McGuinn with the uber jangly “Years Behind You”. Moving at the same BPM as a stopwatch, everything about this song is just right. It’s one of my favorite power pop singles of 2025.
A Surprise From Power Pop Royalty
Just when you think it can’t get any better, it does. The highlight of highlights is reserved for a couple of tracks featuring old favorites.
There’s the brainchild of Leroy Bocchieri, Joywire. A whip-like beat gives “Underrated” an immediate 80’s feel. As if that weren’t enough, Bocchieri’s delivery is very Elvis Costello like. He plays the majority of instruments on this one while Murphy sings harmony backing vocals as well as having mixed it.
And Jeff Murphy (Shoes) is joined by 2 of the original members of Material Issue (Lance Tawzer on bass and Danny Thompson on drums) under the name Evasive Species. “Half A World Away” is a simple relationship tune very similar to something Jack Lee might write. And Murphy has a similarly throaty delivery to Paul Collins, oddly enough. It’s kinda surreal.
You can get this 2 CD set from Kool Kat Musik. It’s truly a wonderful collection from some of the best power pop musicians around today, plus you get the warm and fuzzy feeling from doing something good – giving to a worthy cause. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
