Various Artists "Buttons: Starter Kit" 2xLP

Starter Kit flips back to classic-era Power Pop’s page one, recasting the original Numero 004 as a lean 22-track singalong past Tommy Rock and Randy Winburn Bomp!-comp gems lost by Kim Fowley’s L.A., the Colors’ stabbing at nerved-out Blondie, and the Bats’ oddly mature New Haven Beatle-isms as prelude to Hollywood contracts for a young Jon Brion. We then expand the frame out to Tommy “The Toms” Marolda’s mid-life pining for those lost teen years and the Treble Boys’ flirtations with “Julie-Ann” and The Boss. Connecticut’s Tweeds, New York’s Sponsors, San Antonio’s Kids, and Kennet, Missouri’s Trend also get in on the action, proving that garage bands weren’t dead, they just grew up and bought keyboards.