POP 1280
POP 1280From the ashes of all the Old Rock rises POP 1280, a group of hale and stalwart gentlemen unafraid to embrace the phrase "spunky beat combo." Compulsively gathered together in the spring of 2002 by former Backwards Day vocalist and cult novelist Scott Faingold (Kennel Cough, Post-Traumatic Press, 2000) the superbly pedigreed members of POP 1280 support Scott's cuddly-yet-self-abasing tirades with a smorgasbord of skillfully cuisinarted sound, laden with hooks, counter-hooks, grooves, counter-grooves and blasts of splatting noise. Default heartthrob Stevhan Gobble, once a member of the notorious Butt Gravy, holds things steady with his muscular and charismatic bass stylings, bringing his own patented aw-shucks arrogance to the stage; perpetually overqualified wunderkind-drummer Matt Scroggins (ex-Sister Raisin) and tireless multi-instrumentalist/tech-nerd Randy Vickers both served time in the loveable and much missed Mythbelievers and bring the full weight of their combined expertise to every note they play; and lording it over this uniformly ace crew is none other than admittedly queer guitar-god and peerless tunesmith Jim Schniepp (Backwards Day, H.O.T.) as he leads the others, reckless and blazing, into the heart of each song as into a pitched battle with no heed paid either to personal safety or actuarial tablature. Postmodern enough that they manage to bypass all irony, winding up instead at a new form of naked earnestness, POP 1280 are so fucking eager to rock you they can almost taste your sweat-dappled flesh even now.
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