Popwreck, fronted by scene veteran Aaron Hobbs on the left, debuted at the Meadowlark with a surprising punk rock/power pop set. Photo by Chiara Hobbs.
Music fans can’t help but remember and celebrate an artistap past. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
When we see Morrissey, we hope he’ll play at least a couple Smiths songs. We hope Lou Reed will indulge his fans with a song — a mention, even — of his time fronting the Velvet Underground. And we hope that Chris Cornell never forgets that the only reason he’s able to have a semi-successful solo career is because his former band, Soundgarden, was truly great.
Sometimes there’s an undeniable stigma attached to musicians performing and recording material from a previous incarnation of their career, but there shouldn’t be. Whether itap Morrissey taking on “How Soon Is Now” for the gazillionth time or local hero Andy Monley indulging in an old Velveteen Monster track at a late-night solo gig, that music deserves to be remembered and celebrated.
And I couldn’t help but smile as Aaron Hobbs debuted his new project, Popwreck, on Friday night at the . Opening an exciting three-band bill, Popwreck presented a short and spiky set of melodic punk rock tunes — some of which were familiar from singer-guitarist Hobbs’ time as Hobbs, NM.
Hobbs, NM was a criminally underrated outfit that morphed and evolved and rocked out, under most rock fans’ radars sadly. Sometimes it was Hobbs on his own, and oftentimes he’d play with an entire band. There was never an official album release that I can remember, but Hobbs was always generous with ripped CDs that included bare bones acoustic tracks, full band recordings and others remixed by electronic wizard JME White, who had played with Hobbs previously in Acrobat Down.
Joining Hobbs in Popwreck is Acrobat Down bassman Eliot Zizic, and their take on old Hobbs, NM jams “Asbury & High” and “Don’t Kiss Me Yet” – with help from drummer Casey Dexter – were raging, good fun. Hobbs and his tortured, sloppy tenor has always sounded like a folksy Matt Mahaffrey, who fronted the cult favorites Self. But this reinvention of Hobbs as a punk rocker – and the transformation of his contemplative musical ruminations into fast, hard and muddled ragers – works on multiple levels.
“Don’t Kiss Me Yet” is all about the space between the words, the volatile relationship between Hobbs’ voice and his acoustic guitar. “Ashbury & High” is a celebration of melody with a revelatory, sunny bridge that makes for a brilliant singalong. Played in a style that straddles punk and power pop, these songs took on a new, much briefer life. And it was lovely to have them back.
White was in the audience on Friday, as his new group, Khale, was headlining the show. He was mouthing along as his buddy Hobbs closed his band’s short set with the two familiar songs – and White wasn’t the only one whose lips were moving. There were others in the house – family, friends and peers – who were obviously happy to see Hobbs back on a stage, bringing with him familiar songs that always deserved a bigger platform.
There were also two new originals in the set, and they sounded promising, although Popwreck surprised the crowded bar with a Lemonheads cover, “Tenderfoot.” And as Hobbs worked his way through the iconic, song-ending lyric, “Itap irrelevant/I’m an elephant/She’s a mouse,” it was hard not to remember his ironic covers of oddtastic Top 40 hits by Christina Aguilera and other FM darlings.
Has Aaron Hobbs moved from “Genie in a Bottle” to “Car Button Cloth?” Given Popwreck’s , I’m guessing the answer is yes.
Ricardo Baca is the pop music critic at The Denver Post.
