A look at Chris Von Sneidern's website will give you an idea of exactly how much material this dedicated craftsman has released over the years, and he has always demonstrated an enviable consistency and timelessness. This track from his first album remains a favorite. CVS' wistful pop daydreams often seem more influenced by 70s lite-rockers like Bread than by punk, but he does crank up the volume frequently. The sleeve shown was an advance item released to promote the LP.

Ireland produced a disproportionate number of great power pop records following the '77 punk explosion, the most obvious example being the run of classics by the Undertones and the class acts on the Good Vibrations label. Near the top of the list would have to be the five wonderful 45s recorded by The Donkeys, this particular one (their third, I think) being my favorite. A close runner up would be the last in the series, "Listen to the Radio," released following a name change to "The Donkees." Although this is another strange instance where a band never got to make an LP, there are a couple of compilations available: Detour Records has a new one on both LP and CD, and our friends at Smog Veil have one issued by Japan's 1977 Records.

There's no one named Len Bright in the combo. It's actually Wreckless Eric of "Whole Wide World" fame with a couple of guys from the Milkshakes/Headcoats/Prisoners camp. This is from the first of their two LPs, which along with this lovely snapshot of cold dead romance contains such gems as "Shirt Without a Heart" and "Selina Through the Windshield."

It seems strange that while so many 60s teens in American garages embraced the R'n'B-derived sounds of the Stones, Pretty Things, Kinks, etc. there were seemingly very few windmilling Rickenbackers in an attempt to emulate the Who or any of their mod/psych peers. Powder were among these few, and their recordings contained on the Biff! Bang! Powder CD, while never released during the band's existence, show them remarkably adept at aping the 'oo with ocasional bits of The Pink Floyd thrown in.

Like New Zealand in the 80s, Holland in the 60s presented an enormous hunk of great rock 'n' roll that belied the country's relatively small size. The Q65 and the Outsiders get the most hipster ink, as is appropriate, but there were tonsa great bands, check the above CDs for documentation. The Sandy Coast issued a handful of great beat singles before getting decidedly heavier in the later part of the 60s, as was the pattern for most. Guess which we prefer?

The DIY ethic (see the entry for January 15) occasionally applied to power pop bands as well. Here's a fine example of lo-budget, black-and-white sleeve power pop. The flip says "Dub Version," but it isn't. It's another good number in the same vein. The Gangsters had an album as well, which was booted a couple of years ago; it's not often up to the standard set here. The exquisite picture sleeve is shown mainly to demonstrate that we're not terribly snobby about condition.