Pop and Jazz Reviews : Pleasant, Melodic Material From Material Issue

You can’t fault a young Chicago band for wanting to sound like Cheap Trick, arguably the Windy City’s top pop export. But Material Issue singer-guitarist Jim Ellison’s screaming out song titles and striking rock-star poses as if he were playing at Budokan Arena rather than at the Palace on Friday was a bit too cheap and not very tricky at all.

In truth, the trio Ellison fronts made pleasant, enjoyable, melodic guitar-pop, and played it with affectionate conviction. A handful of the group’s songs (notably, observed one fan, the ones with girls’ names in the titles) are undeniably catchy. But all those neat hooks weren’t exactly new when Cheap Trick first used them 15 years ago (remember, Cheap Trick wanted to be the Beatles and the Move). And Material Issue hasn’t shown the original twists and charisma that made the Trick a worthy role model in the first place.

Second-billed Sun-60, a Los Angeles band until recently known as Far Cry, did show a few winning twists with its sunny SoCal skiffle-pop. Imagine the Violent Femmes growing up on Venice Beach and having a surfer-girl singer. But while Joan Jones’ sometimes girlish voice is in a league with Femme Gordon Gano’s eternal youth approach, her introspective, mature lyrics are all-woman. And when she whips out her pocket trumpet and blows, stand back.