GUITAR POP JOURNAL: Volume 4 Is LIVE!

'Remember The Lightning—A Guitar Pop Journal: Volume 4' >>> eBook/Print

S.W. Lauden

Oct 10, 2024

The fourth volume of our semi-annual music journal features some of today's best music writers and the most talented modern musicians.

⚡️ Available In Print & eBook Formats 💥

Grab Your Copy Now!

INTRODUCTION: Hit To Hit

By S.W. Lauden

Sometimes the music that we love inspires us in surprising ways.

Such was the case the first time I encountered the combined video for the songs “Velodrome” and “My Bike” from the album Hit to Hit by Philadelphia’s 2nd Grade. There was something about the juxtaposition of these two tracks—one upbeat and propulsive; the other slower, more introspective—that caught my ear and never let go.

I wasn’t writing about much modern music at that point, but I had recently started contributing to Jack Rabid’s legendary Big Takeover magazine. The timing seemed right, so 2nd Grade songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Peter Gill became one of the first musicians I interviewed about the current golden age of guitar pop (a winding path that eventually led to the Remember The Lightning newsletter and these semi-annual Guitar Pop Journals).

I have been a 2nd Grade fan ever since, closely following along with each new release. So, when I got a sneak preview of their latest collection, Scheduled Explosions, I knew that Gill had to be the cover artist for Volume 4.

At the same time, I really wanted an article about the Dahlmanns in this latest collection and I couldn’t think of anybody better qualified to write it than veteran music scribe Josh Rutledge of Faster and Louder.

It was a pleasant surprise when his excellent piece opened with a similar tale about how this Norwegian power pop duo was the reason he started writing about new music again. I guess it really says something about the incredible 2020s guitar pop wave that it has a few of us coming out of “retirement” to gush about it.

Of course, many longtime and highly-respected music writers never stopped. For this latest volume of our small-but-mighty Guitar Pop Journal, author and long-time Goldmine contributing editor John M. Borack treats us to a personal piece about his experience drumming with LA pop rockers the Armoires. And Paul Myers, host of the Record Store Day Podcast and my co-editor for the essay collections Go All The Way and Go Further, delivers an insightful deep dive on indie pop darlings the Lemon Twigs. Myers’ contribution is complemented by Ugly Things contributor Justin Murphy’s astute ode to up-and-coming LA glam popper Billy Tibbals. (Tibbals is tangentially tied to the Twigs through his association with our Volume 2 cover band Uni Boys. It’s a small guitar pop world, after all!)

Elsewhere in this collection, talented modern musicians write about some of their biggest influences.

Ethan Beck reflects on his relationship with the music of power pop legends Shoes, R.E. Seraphin pens a love letter to outsider pop heroes Game Theory, and Matt Scottoline tells the tale of how he came to perform the Teenage Fanclub classic “Don’t Look Back” live in Scotland with Gerry Love. Lastly, on the heels of all the Generation Blue action around here this year, Jose Galvez gives us the backstory on Ozma’s debut album Rock and Roll Part Three as the band celebrates its 25th anniversary.

Continuing our series exploring important guitar pop scenes from around the globe, Ryan Allen is back with an expansive two-part essay about the history of Michigan power pop. These essays (both in Volume 4!) are as hilarious and self-deprecating as they are insightful. I have no doubt you will leave his well-informed and personal journey through the decades, as Allen puts it, “smitten by rock from the Mitten.”

In the end, that’s what these Guitar Pop Journals are supposed to be about: Respected writers, diehard music fans, and talented music makers unabashedly gushing about their favorite bands while pointing you to more than a few favorites you might have missed.