10 tracks on 8tracks

Spending Time—Ozma

Use It—The New Pornographers

Asthenia—Blink-182

Hey Now Girl—Phantom Planet

St. Jimmy—Green Day

Good Day—Jukebox the Ghost

I Need You Back—Ben Kweller

Alright Alright—Sahara Hotnights

Translator—The Rentals

Loose Cannon—The Yoko Casionos

Putting together a mix of power pop is remarkably difficult. Normally I would think that making a compilation of music defined by it's thumpy rhythms and punchy guitars is a terrible idea—too much sameness. It's great for driving, but not for your office headphones. Hopefully I managed to mix up the instrumentation, vocal stylings, and tone of the track list enough to hold your interest.

(And a note to people who tend to enjoy a good power pop tune, but who associate Blink-182 with frattish stupidity and immaturity—somehow they molted off their idiocy before they splintered and crafted a fairly excellent pop album at the end. Catchy hooks! Dynamic volume levels! Variations in tempo! And vocal counterpoint!? It's full of surprises.)