If you asked me to name the last power pop song I heard, I wouldn't be able to tell you. I know it when I hear it, but off the top of my head at the moment? Couldn't give you anything. But damn if this most recent Wednesday song isn't making me feel like the genre is having a huge moment right now. Oh, I just remembered Illuminati Hotties, that's the last power pop album I can think of.
I can't pretend I've listened to enough of this band of this band to make any definitive claims other than "They are great". I caught a wiff of them during the most recent IndieCast episode and figured it may be time to start snuffing around their Tidal page. Their first full length album isn't available on the streaming platforms, so their first release you can track down on anything but YouTube is from 2018, and their second album (first one with their whole band rather than just a duo ((a la Hinds (((another power pop powerhouse!)))))) is from 2020. It's called I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone and it is the next on my list.
Thing about me is; I love a young band. Any time I happen upon an artist and their first thing they put out is less than five years ago, I'm so stoked to hop on the hype train and see if they can hit critical mass before their third album. And with their new jam, Chosen to Deserve, is . . . dude it's everything I can ask for in a good rock song. Just in time for their third album too B-)
This track opens with a series of power chords that seem to have resurrected and reanimated right from the pages of Journey's complete tablature, and Karly Hartzman's lyrics contain a comfy little country twang as she sings them with a soft, cozy, serenade that hits your ear like it's wrapping you up in a plush beanbag, like a fleece beanbag, it's pleasant. Idk listen to the way she starts that first verse, you'll probably hear it. Hartzman sings like Rock and Country are her parents and neither of them spent more time with her than the other, it's so nice to listen to. And when her vocal stylings are paired with that backing band, it sounds like the best example of what you might hear if you program your radio to a random station.
My favorite member of Wednesday just about has to be Xandy Chelmis on the lap guitar, just by merit of their being there. Give me more steel guitar in my day to day life before it's all outsourced to this band. They incorporated my favorite part of country music (the foundational instruments) and abandoned my least favorite part (the lyrics). I don't know that I can fully separate conventional country lyrics from this song now that I think about it though. In "Chosen to Believe" Hartzman sings her background to her partner, revealing that she used to be of a wilder kind. Sex n drugs n so forth. But she who couldn't be contained has allowed herself to select a partner who she considers worthy with whom to share her love. This in addition to the stories she doesn't share as lightly. It does reach country lyric status in that regard for sure.
Power pop probably isn't the genre to describe now that I'm thinking more about it. It's just got those chords dude, all the way through. They sound like if a guitar was emphatically yelling "I love you!!!" to your boyfriend down the street as you part ways for the day. The song's kinda hard to define in terms of genre really. I'm inclined to just call it Rock. Capital R Rock Music is present in the month of January 2023 thanks in part to this lovely band. It's not Hard, nor is it Emo or Punk. It's not particularly Indie or even Alternative for that matter, apart from the steel guitar. And it's certainly not country enough to be considered Country. Just a good Rock song.
We did it y'all, this is the track of the month for January. check out Wednesday's "Chosen to Deserve." I just got into them and you should too.