Pop Goes The Weekend

By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 15, 2005 5:24PM

As the International Pop Overthrow festival hits town for a two-week engagement, we’re reminded of how much we miss Material Issue. Another in a long line of critically acclaimed and enormously influential bands that never had the sales to match, Material Issue were the connective tissue that made it OK for bands like Smashing Pumpkins to wear their Cheap Trick influences on their collective sleeve. Not since The Undertones' “More Songs About Chocolate and Girls” had a band released such a concise sonic mission statement as their International Pop Overthrow album.

Though former MI bassist Ted Ansani, plays the Beat Kitchen tonight (along with Freak City Soundtrack which takes its name from MI’s penultimate studio album), the International Pop Overthrow fest has no direct link to the band. But its tight embrace of everything that’s good about pop music will be familiar to anyone who ever screamed out the chorus of “Valerie Loves Me.”

With its origins in Los Angeles, IPO brings the local flavor with more than 80 Chicago bands that will play various venues throughout April including some of our favorites like Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, M.O.T.O, and Foster-Walker Complex. With over 80 more bands from around the country and the world, anyone who prefers their pop to be more Bright Eyes than Britney will find someone to keep them satisfied. Honestly, the thought of spending just $14 ($6 for the afternoon lineup and $8 for the evening) to hear almost 12 hours of songs about lost, found, unrequited or dirty love at either Gunther Murphy’s or Subterranean just makes us want to piddle like an overexcited puppy. Click here for the full schedule or here for links to each band’s website.