Gimme 5! S.W. Lauden Shares Five Albums That Inspired Volume 1 Of The New Music Journal Remember The Lightning

With ‘Gimme 5!’ we take a peek into the collections of artists we admire. The premise is simple: artists WE like share five records THEY love.

Talk to any power pop fan, namedrop some bands, and before you know it, you are in a heated debate of whether these bands are in fact power pop bands. Power pop is not just a great genre to listen to – who doesn’t like catchy energetic tunes? It also makes for a great topic to discuss and write about. Few writers have their fingers so strongly on the pulse of power pop past and present, and even fewer manage to write so thoughtfully and accessible about it as S.W. Lauden aka Steve Coulter. Steve drums in The Brothers Steve and used to play in Tsar. He writes articles, interviews and reviews for The Big Takeover, and has published several books on power pop, and is creating waves with his power pop crime fiction books and short stories. [post continues below]

Recently, Lauden dropped a new “guitar pop” journal called Remember The Lightning. In the journal, Lauden dubs power pop as the “debating club of rock’n’roll.” And indeed, a recurring theme in the plus minus 90 pages of the journal is what actually falls under the power pop umbrella. Throughout the pages, Remember The Lightning is a celebration of hooky guitar pop’n’roll and the musicians creating it. I’ve been reading the journal over the weekend and I highly recommend it. Rob Nesbitt’s (The Suitesixteen) essay on Exploding Hearts alone makes the purchase worthwhile. It’s one of the best pieces of writing I’ve read recently and I had goosebumps when I finished it. The rest of the journal is excellent as well. Lauden’s interview with The Whiffs is fun and insightful. Annie Zeleski (who wrote books on Duran Duran and Lady Gaga) has an excellent piece on The Beths. David Laing reflects on the country roots of power pop. The journal also has great essays by Mo Troper and James Goodson (Dazy). Like the best power pop songs, all of these essays are accessible, concise, and none outstay their welcome.

Our enthusiasm for the Remember The Lightning journal (and the substack associated with it – essential bookmarking!) made us reach out to S.W. Lauden to talk about the journal. He was kind enough to share some of his inspirations. Enjoy reading and listening!

S.W. Lauden: “I fell in love with music and writing during a pivotal year in my midteens. I’d just joined a new band that introduced me to legends like The Replacements, Velvet Underground, and Alex Chilton. Then it all came together when the guitarist handed me a Kurt Vonnegut novel at rehearsal one day. It was like fireworks went off inside my head and I suddenly knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I’ve been making music and writing ever since.

Music dominated my 20s and 30s, but in the last decade or so I’ve been more focused on publishing music-themed crime fiction and editing essay collections about power pop (Go All The Way and Go Further) or punk rock (Forbidden Beat). My latest project is Remember The Lightning; A Guitar Pop Journal, a semi-annual publication combining the writerly approach of those essay collections, with the immediacy of my Substack newsletter.

I’ve said it many times before, but I truly believe we’re living in a guitar pop golden age with artists from around the world making some of the most vital rock and roll in recent memory. This new guitar pop journal is intended to be a celebration of that music, and the artists who influenced it. Below are five albums that inspired volume one of our new guitar pop journal.”

1. 20/20 || 20/20
I’ve long loved 20/20’s self-titled debut from 1979. So when I was trying to come up with a name for my new Substack newsletter and guitar pop journal, I turned to this outstanding collection for inspiration. The band’s best known song, Yellow Pills, was already used as the title for a legendary zine and compilation series, but another one of my favorite tracks, Remember The Lightning, seemed like a perfect fit. I’d interviewed the songwriter, Ron Flynt, when I wrote about 20/20 for Go Further, so I reached out and he graciously gave me permission to use it. A few of my other favorite tracks from 20/20 include Cheri, Tell Me Why (Can’t Understand You) and Jet Lag. It’s a perfect album.

2. The Whiffs || Scratch ‘N’ Sniff
I always imagined The Whiffs as the cover story for the guitar pop journal’s first volume. With a sound rooted in ’60s British invasion and garage rock, ’70s punk, and ’80s/’90s power pop, this Kansas City quartet is among a handful of modern bands fueling the current guitar pop resurgence. So, I was thrilled when they agreed to a series of interviews for my article about them (adorned by fantastic cover art from Brian Walsby). The piece chronicles the band’s origin story and some of major influences, but settles into a conversation about their relationship with the term “power pop.” I’d previously interviewed guitarist/vocalist Rory Cameron for Big Takeover so I had some sense of his take, but it was eye-opening to hear from the rest of the band, Zach Campbell, Joey Rubbish, and Jake Cardwell. If you’re looking for a stellar example of modern power pop, The Whiffs’ latest album is a stunner. A few of my favorites include Wanted, Shot Thru and Tired of Romance.

3. The Beths || Expert In A Dying Field
One of the reasons I love putting these kinds of collections together is that it allows for several different perspectives on the music we all love. Annie Zaleski is an acclaimed music journalist and author who wrote one of my favorite 33 1/3 books on Duran Duran’s Rio (in addition to contributing an excellent essay about Jellyfish to Go Further). Zaleski was always near the top of my wishlist for contributors, but I wasn’t sure what she might want to write about—until I mentioned The Beths. If any modern band can be said to exemplify the countless ways in which guitar pop continues to thrive and evolve, these New Zealand indie rockers are it. Their 2022 album Expert In A Dying Field is full of addictive tracks that sound instantly familiar while managing to avoid easy classification. A few favorites include Expert in a Dying Field, Silence Is Golden, and When You Know You Know.

4. Juniper || She Steals Candy
One of the things that sets this new journal apart from my previous collections is its focus on music and artists from the 2000s. Most of the contributions shine a spotlight on guitar pop from the last 20 years, including The Exploding Hearts, Tinted Windows and Sloan ‘s last four albums. A piece that really captures that spirit is renowned author and music writer John Borack’s essay/interview with teen pop singer Juniper and her co-writer/producer/dad, Michael Shelley. Juniper’s recent album, She Steals Candy, is a pure pop confection that Borack describes as “sweetly sung expressions of the teen experience, fairly bursting with melody and youthful effervescence.” Start with the lead track Bang! before working your way to other standouts like She Steals Candy, Alone With You and I’ve Got A Boy.

5. Mo Troper || MTV
Portland-based singer/songwriter Mo Troper is not only one of my favorite modern guitar pop artists, but he’s also an excellent music writer. He was one of the first people I mentioned this new journal to and his early enthusiasm and support was key. Troper did a great cover of Chris Bell’s I Am The Cosmos late last year so I asked him to write about what that song means to him (which he knocked out of the park). If you’re new to Troper’s music and like fuzzed-out Beatles-/Beach Boys-influenced pop rock with a ’90s alternative twist, dive into earlier albums like Exposure & Response and Natural Beauty before exploring boundary-pushing releases like Dilettante and MTV (it’s on those recent albums, and on his latest single For You To Sing that Troper seems to have really hit his stride). A few of my favorite tracks from MTV include I Fall Into Her Arms, I’m The King of Rock ‘n Roll, Waste Away and Play Dumb.

Buy the journal here. And subscribe to the Remember The Lightning Substack here.