It’s been a horribly long and snowy winter. It’s time for a little power pop to lift everybody’s spirits.

Palomar “I’ll Come Running” (Brian Eno)
Sometimes a song hits my iPod’s shuffle play and I like it so much that I build a theme around it just to have an excuse to post the song. That’s what happened with this one.

Holly and the Italians “Chapel Of Love” (Dixie Cups)
The original version featured a nice girl in a white dress. This time the bride’s wearing leather.

Liz Phair and Material Issue “The Tra La La Song (One Banana Two Banana)” (theme from The Banana Splits)
Let’s get one thing straight: Liz Phair is a no-talent bimbo whose career is built entirely on record-label hype and payola. But here she has the good sense to hook up with Chicago power pop gods Material Issue to cover the theme song from one of Sid and Marty Krofft’s oddball kid shows.

Lemonheads “Mrs. Robinson” (Simon and Garfunkle)
Not as sly as Simon and Garfunkle, but good nonetheless.

Trip Shakespeare “Dead Set On Destruction” (Husker Du)
Remove the menacing buzzy guitar from the original, add some cooing harmonies and you get a power pop song. Who knew?