International Pop Overthrow

Material Issue burst from the midwest power pop scene onto the national stage with this, their 1991 debut album. Produced by Jeff Murphy of Shoes, it features a couple of bona fide hits (“Valerie Loves Me,” the blissfully tuneful “Diane”) but plenty of other strong tracks as well. Singer Jim Ellison has a powerful tenor voice and the kind of vaguely British vocal inflection that marked much of the music of this ilk, and the trio’s sound is tight and sharp.