Power Pop: Various - International Pop Overthrow Vol.2 (1999 Del Fi)

Why I am presenting a compilation of so-called'' Power Pop'' bands here is probably obvious for regular visitors to this blog. On the one hand, it is melodic pop music and on the other hand, it is pop music that is often strongly oriented towards the pop music of the sixties and early seventies. Of course, the boundaries here are also fluid and there are of course acts that don't process such influences in their music and use other, more modern elements.
The IPO is an event created by David Bash (and Rina Bartfield) to offer more or less unknown bands and solo artists from the pop/power pop field a platform where they could introduce themselves to a wider audience. Originally the festival was held in Los Angeles. However, other American cities soon followed. In 2003 the festival became international. London in England was the first place to present the festival outside the USA. As far as I know, it now takes place every year in almost 20 countries.

About the album: On the one hand, of course, the bandwidth is enormous with the amount of different artists, on the other hand, it is possible to identify certain preferences in the songs for a large part of the musicians. Beatles, Beach Boys, Byrds are a lot of supporting elements while bands like the Joy Poppers are more oriented towards alternative rock. But what is missing in almost no one here are expressive melody lines. In general it is a collection with an above average quantities of good acts (imho). A very good collection and recommendable for everyone who likes Power Pop. Frank

 Like the first volume, this is a compilation of late-'90s indie bands playing in styles strongly reminiscent of '60s pop and/or '70s power pop. If you go for that sort of revivalism, this might have an edge over its predecessor, just because there's so much more. Two CDs, in fact, with 21 songs each, and when Single Bullet Theory is about the most recognizable name, you know that these bands are "pop" in their orientation, not the size of their audience. Often this is hum-drum, if good-hearted, guitar-based pop/rock, but there is some variety here for the patient.

Outrageous Cherry do '60s California pop of the Gary Usher-produced brand; Helium Angel's "December Song" is acoustic guitar-grounded folk-rock reminiscent of the Move circa 1970; Elliot Kendall plays pop-with-strings that again shows a strong late-'60s California influence; Chewy Marble's "Reasons Why" sounds like Todd Rundgren in the early '70s; Cosmic Avenger stand out just because of their emphasis on minor chords (which says as much about power pop revivalism as a whole as it does about the band).

The Double Naught Spies' "Strawberry Afternoon" is a reasonable late-'60s British pop-psych approximation (again reminiscent of Roy Wood and the Move) that would probably attract fawning praise in the U.K. press if some current Brit-pop band did it.(Richie Unterberger, allmusic.com)

Flac