As the seventies were winding down back in 1979, The Knack’s ‘My Sharona’ was ruling the charts and airwaves around the globe. It turned out to be a sort of a curse for the band, but in so many ways a curse for powerpop, as this rock sub-genre has been swept under the carpet, intentionally or unintentionally.
Yet, powerpop never went away, and it shouldn’t have, as its melody first, everything else second (well, except guitars) just kept its head above the water for decades to have its moment(s) every once in a while.
Well, with the advent of Kai Slater, aka Sharp Pins a group of other powerpop artist is being noticed, and that notice just might cover Joe Glass, another K Records protege who just released his second album proper, Snakewards.
Slither, his first album was released back in 2022, and Glass’ new one is actually a collection of tracks recorded in any shape and form between 2023 and 2026, The fact that these songs (except three new ones) were initially released on a cassette just might speak about the outlook critics and audiences had on powerpop in the previous period.
But times change, so does the attitude, but what didn’t change is that these 16 songs sound as fresh and as old, say mid-seventies or any other powerpop period for that matter, as Glass seems to be a sort of a powerpop encyclopedia, covering practically every aspect of this sub-genre, and covering it oh so well. Hopefully, we’ll hear more from Joe Glass.
