Long-Delayed Big Star Tribute LP to Be Released

The comp features artists HEAVILY influenced by the consummate 70s power pop band, such as Teenage Fanclub, Wilco, Matthew Sweet and, of course, the Posies, whose members are such big fans they actually joined the band. Big Star themselves supply the latter-day reunion song "Hot Thing", thus paying tribute to themselves. How post-modern.

Wow, the Gin Blossoms and Juliana Hatfield are on here, too? Were the Gigolo Aunts not available? This thing should have come out ages ago. Oh wait, my bad; it seems as if the album has been shelved since 1999! Kudos should at least be thrown at Koch for rescuing this comp from the dustbin of useless music trivia, and for replacing the Sister Hazel cover of "September Gurls" with the Afghan Whigs song. And what the hell, you can use it as a soundtrack to reminiscing fondly about the Kosovo conflict and horny White House hijinks while watching The Matrix.

You get what you deserve:

01 Afghan Whigs - Nightime
02 Matthew Sweet - Ballad of El Goodo
03 Gin Blossoms -- Back of a Car
04 Teenage Fanclub - Jesus Christ
05 Big Star - Hot Thing
06 Wilco - Thirteen
07 The Posies - What's Going Ahn
08 Juliana Hatfield - Don't Lie to Me
09 Whiskeytown - Give Me Another Chance
10 Kelly Willis - When My Baby's Beside Me
11 Idlewild - You Get What You Deserve

The past year has been full of Big Star activity, as the band cemented a sturdy lineup (original members Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens with the Posies' Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow) and released a new album, In Space. They have three live dates scheduled for the rest of the year so far, including one in a mall. That's kinda sad.***

***UPDATE: A reader has written in to inform us that St. Louis' Gateway Mall is not, in fact, a place to go shopping. Rather, it's a park. And Big Star playing in a park is not sad at all. It's happy!

Radio cities:

05-21 Atlanta, GA - Centennial Park
06-03 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound Festival
10-01 St. Louis, MO - Gateway Mall

Big Star: http://bigstarband.com/
Koch: http://www.kochentertainment.com/