The Ledge #544: Power Pop, Pt. 2 (The Present)

Last week's show featured classic power pop tracks from the past. This week, we take a look a the current state of the genre with 40 tracks of fabulous guitar-driven pop music. In fact, the vast majority of these tracks are from 2022, with a handful of tunes from 2021 and 2020. The oldest song of the bunch dates back to 2014, and that tune from The Cry! was selected to be paired with the brand new single by lead singer Tommy Ray.

It should be to nobody's surprise that a good portion of the show compiles highlights from Big Stir Records as they are the without a doubt the gold standard of new music of this type. Author S. W. Lauden's influence also extends beyond the books he compiled with co-author Paul Myers. Not only does he appear on a couple of the Big Stir tunes broadcast in this episode, his suggestions resulted in quite possibly the most exciting set of the show.

I would love it if every listener bought at least one record I played on either of these shows. These great artists deserve to be compensated for their hard work, and every purchase surely helps not only pay their bills but fund their next set of wonderful songs. And if you buy these records directly from the artist or label, please let them know you heard these tunes on The Ledge! Let them know who is giving them promotion! You can find this show at almost any podcast site, including iTunes and Stitcher...or

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1. Dave Scarbrough, As Far As I Know

2. The Flashcubes featuring Shoes, Tomorrow Night

3. The GoAllTheWays, Silly Girl

4. Nick Frater, Stuck In My Ways

5. The Armoires, The Night I Heard A Scream

6. The Bablers, Holding Me Tight Tonight

7. Popular Creeps, Gone By 45

8. Librarians With Hickeys, Can't Wait 'Till Summer

9. The Brothers Steve, Carry Me (Single Mix)

10. Uni Boys, Downtown

11. The Whiffs, PLEASE BE TRUE

12. Radio Days, I Got a Love

13. Kate Clover, Love You To Death

14. 2nd Grade, Strung Out On You

15. Kurt Baker, Electric Fire

16. Geoff Palmer, Many More Drugs

17. Natalie Sweet & Brad Marino, Second Time

18. Pavid Vermin, Mean Mr. Mustard

19. The Speedways, Dead From The Heart Down

20. Dot Dash, Tense & Nervous

21. The Prescriptions, Long Past Tonight

22. The Well Wishers, Any Way at All

23. Sloan, Magical Thinking

24. THE LEN PRICE 3, She Came from Out of the Sun

25. Scruff Myers' Superhands, Kissing for Granted

26. The Dogmatics, Drop That Needle

27. Tommy Ray, Every Way I'm Moving

28. The CRY!, Discoteque

29. Local Drags, Thought You Could

30. More Kicks, In Love

31. Tony Molina, The Last Time

32. Dazy, Choose Yr Ramone

33. Metalleg, Find Doubt

34. Young Guv, Too Far Gone

35. Nick Piunti, My Mind (Plays Tricks On Me)

36. The Split Squad, Hey DJ

37. The Prize, Wrong Side of Town

38. Beat Angels, Girl Walking Backwards

39. The Airport 77s, Losers Win

40. Dave Scarbrough, Take My Hand