I Never Travel Far Without a Little Big Star

First, thank you, Alex Chilton. I'm a big fan of power pop, and the power pop sun rises and falls with Alex. Alex and his other original Big Star mate Jody Stephens are joined by Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of The Posies, who have been members of Big Star for more than 10 years. This new effort, the first in 3 decades, is a really fun collection of songs, and after listening to it for a half of a day now there are several songs that stand out with me. You've got to listen to it yourself, though, and pick your own favorites.

"Best Chance We've Ever Had" is slightly reminiscent of "In The Street" and has simply awesome harmony--this is going to be a new Big Star classic. There's a nice nod to "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (cf "Pet Sounds" by the Beach Boys) at the start of "Turn My Back On the Sun" along with the vocal "ba-ba-ba-ba-ba's" throughout...this was music to my ears. "Love Revolution" begins ala Archie Bell and the Drells and has a great rhythm line...Alex sounds so great on this number, too...it's truly a great Big Star tune. "Hung Up With Summer" is one of my favorites on the disc and sounds like classic Big Star...it also really reminds me of the tune "Hurt So Bad" (Little Anthony & The Imperials).

Again...Thank you Alex for giving us more of yourself!