My Top 1000 Songs #720: International Pop Overthrow

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.] 

So what happens when a Midwestern power pop band tries to sound like the Buzzcocks? You get something a little too heavy for pop, a little too bubblegum for punk... yet nonetheless a basic and just about the perfect anthem for a scene that you instantly wanna hang with. Even if you've never checked out the long-running power-pop compilation series or live events that took on the IPO label, you can't help but hear the song as yearning to be part of a cool little rock & roll movement.

The title track off the band's 1991 debut LP isn't the most clever or colorful track on the record; but ""I was riding around with the radio up and the windows down" is the way every damn song oughta start. And if you're at all like me, it'll have you mimicking that faux-British "international pawp!" proclamation for the next 30 years.