International Pop Overthrow Overview

I spent 10 days at this year's International Pop Overthrow festival in Hollywood, and saw something terrific every night. During the festival, I sent on-line reviews of each day's gigs. Rather than try to sum it all up, I thought I'd focus on four really cool bands:

THE SUGARPLASTIC: Played an incredibly rocking set that was almost entirely comprised of unreleased material. During the second song, as Ben Eschenbach played a real jagged guitar line and the drummer went into a stop-start mechanical rhythm, Not Lame Records head Bruce Brodeen turned to me and shouted "Gang Of Four!" He was right! The Sugarplastic's new material conjures memories of Go4, Wire, the Mekons and others. The songs have danceable herky-jerky rhythms and repetitive guitars (though guitar repetition has always been part of their M.O.) -- with Ben's unique melodic sense still intact, often rising up from the rock like an oasis in the desert. The Sugarplastic are doing a great job of getting a lot out of a few core musical principles.

THE SCOOTERS: This Welsh band initially inspired some joking with folks about whether one of the band's guitarists looked more like Rob Halford, Moby or Paul Shaffer. Then, their music seized me. The bald guitarist was a good singer, but the other guitarist, a wee dude, had a great soulful voice - perhaps the best Welsh soul singer since...not Tom Jones...but Andy Fairweather-Low of The Amen Corner. This band also had harmonies out the wazoo. Lots of stuff going on in their tunes -- some Crowded House, some Cosmic Rough Riders, some lite R & B in spots, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and a rock power on par with The Posies or Frisbie (the horns that augmented a couple tunes cement that comparision) -- a couple songs they really hit another gear and just soared.

ROCKFOUR: One of the best live bands in the world -- a monolithic, ultrapowerful force that throws in layers of psych and pretty prog power. Rockfour channels *Live At Leeds*/*Quadrophenia*-era Who, combining lethal power with sophistication. And the lead singer is so passionate and wild -- during the encore cover of the Beatles' "Rain" (which they slowed down a bit, in what could be called the Leviathan Mix), he threw the mike to the ground, and collapsed on stage to join it, singing loudly and doing spastic push ups. Is this man Iggy Prog? As I said to at least a few people at The Knitting Factory, "FUCK!!!".

THE PILLBUGS: Toledo, Ohio band started out with a '70s pop-rock tune that was O.K., but nothing special. Then they went through the looking glass into Anglophilia-land. First a music hall type number. Then they headed straight to the off-ramp marked 'The Move/Pretty Things/Tomorrow/Genesis" -- top notch psychedelic music that navigated the narrow strait between psych and prog. Superb vocals, dynamics, stellar playing -- if you already have NUGGETS II, seek these guys out (they have a terrific 1998 double disc - e-mail IamaRockr@aol.com for more info).

What made The Pillbugs so cool is that they have been around awhile and it was clear that the opportunity to play in front of a receptive crowd in L.A. was a real ego boost. And that's the type of performance that makes IPO so worthwhile.

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