NuDisc

These days you gotta expect that anything being shipped to you is gonna take extra time to show up. In fact, it might not make it to you at all. Such was the case for our review copy of POP-O-PIES’ very first reissue CD, a reissue of The White EP, the band’s debut recording from 1982. First released on San Francisco indie label 415 Records, the new reissue label Liberation Hall has taken the original 6-song vinyl and put it out on compact disc with an additional seven songs. The kindly promo people guaranteed NuDisc a copy when I sent a salivating email requesting one, promising a sure positive review because “I played the shit out of it on my college radio station,” and I meant that. Then it didn’t show up. I enquired. They sent another one. No show. (It was around the holidays…) I enquired again and THIS TIME, lo-and-behold, it did – along with another 415 reissue CD.

Well, it was pretty much worth the wait and heartache. Okay, there wasn’t really any heartache involved. You see, I still have my original vinyl copy – in fact, I celebrate the entire Pop-O-Pies catalog – and I pretty much know it by heart. I wish I could say that this CD is as absolutely effin’ awesome as I hoped it would be, but I can’t. BUT… it’s close! Pop-O-Pies was/is the brainchild of Joe (Callahan) Pop-O-Pie, a smart ass from the Bay Area who came up with the idea of taking the Grateful Dead’s “Truckin’” and re-styling it as a hardcore punk song. The further gimmick was that that cover version would be the only song the Pop-O-Pies would play. Supposedly that was so, at least for awhile. But eventually Joe & Co. came up with some originals, including the slow, pseudo-’60s ballad “The Catholics Are Attacking,“ all about that church and its hypocrisy, and further punkers like “Anna Ripped Me Off” and “Timothy Leary Lives,” which I love for its “guitar solo” that is actually just someone (Joe?) singing “neer nuh neer nuh neer” as if he’s the guitar. Genius! My 19-year old brain couldn’t get enough of this thing when it first came out, and I played it so much on KCMU that I’m sure our station music director must have passed a note to me about maybe giving some other artists some attention. Anyway, 415 put out a 12″ EP of the band’s stuff (which featured TWO versions of “Truckin’,” including a rap version that is quite funny [still]). The band went on to do a few more foot-long EPs, though on other labels, and eventually they spun out as some of the members had also been playing with other bands that became much more popular (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle). And so the Pies were done.

I said earlier that this Pop-O-Pies CD was “pretty much worth the wait,” and that’s because it’s lacking the kind of bonus tracks and packaging that I’d expect after nearly 40 years! Yes, there are seven extra tracks here but four of them sound identical to tracks that appeared on the band’s sophomore release (Joe’s Second Record, 1984, which had only six songs). The others are pretty good, including “Slow & Ignorant” (recorded in ’93) and a trippy thing called “Lenny in Wonderland.” The final bonus, “A Political Song (The Hip Version),” is short and unremarkable. Packaging-wise, it’s your standard CD that comes in a jewel case with a typical insert, lacking lots of info (like: ARE those four songs from Joe’s Second Record actually the same recordings that are on Joe’s second record?), no unpublished photos, and a tag on the front cover noting “featuring members of” bands that takes up almost as much room as the Pop-O-Pies logo itself. I mean: Does the record label think they’ll move more of these CDs by touting other bands, when, let’s face it, your run-of-the-mill Cars or Tubes fan is probably not gonna take a chance on this release unless they already know what it is? I’d doubt it.

Yet: Pop-O-Pies finally makes it to the 21st Century! I feel tingly all over, like a tomato. – Marsh Gooch

3/5 (for the reissue), 5/5 (for the White EP itself) (Liberation Hall LIB-5027, 2021)