The Posies - Dear 23

Most of the bands belonging to the power pop movement of the 1990's have a lot of affection for Big Star. For The Posies, I think it goes a little beyond that. I think they literally wanted to be Big Star. Of course Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer got their wish when Alex Chilton invited them to fill in for the deceased members of Big Star as part of the Big Star reunion. Anyway, the first half of Dear 23 approaches the power side of Big Star evident in songs like "The Ballad of El Goodo" and "In the Street" with songs like "Golden Blunders" and "My Big Mouth." The rest of the album seems like an attempt to lay down a track as perfectly mellow and sweet as "Thirteen." Nothing on this album is as good as the music it attempts to emulate, but it's still a really really good effort.