On June 6, Bay Area trio Super Cassette release Hurts, Don’t It?, their first new track since 2023’s debut LP Continue. The single, put out independently, comes as the band leans deeper into their DIY ethos and sharper sound.
With more releases planned across early summer, Hurts, Don’t It? marks a shift—still grounded in their 90s-tinged indie power pop roots, but now rougher-edged, more direct.
“This is by far my favorite song I’ve ever written,” says frontperson Max Gerlock. “It started as sort of a pep-talk to myself, but ultimately became an ode to all artists and sensitive people.” The single channels a sense of exposure, both emotional and artistic, pushing against the impulse to retreat inward. “For me — and I think for a lot of creative people — everyday life can be excruciating. Your sensitivity can make you want to sequester yourself away from humanity and never share yourself or your art with anyone. But I want people to know that, despite how painful it can be, it’s always the right thing to put yourself out into the world.”
Alongside Gerlock on guitar and lead vocals (plus keyboards, programming, and production in the studio), the band includes Devin Hollister on bass and backing vocals, and Ramon Esquivel on drums and backing vocals. Since Continue, the three have been steadily carving out a place in the Bay Area music scene—live shows, word-of-mouth, and persistence—while refining a sound that pulls in elements of classic power pop and something more unruly.
The band’s self-released approach reflects a growing ecosystem of contemporary power pop artists rooted in local scenes and analog grit, not algorithmic gloss. Super Cassette’s new single lands in the same orbit as a number of under-the-radar artists who are reshaping the genre in their own ways—artists worth checking out if you’re tracking the resurgence of guitar-driven pop with brains, heart, and tape hiss.
10 Power Pop Bands
Diners (LA)
There is something incredibly pure about the music of Blue Broderick. Between the innocent lyrics of songs like “Fifteen on a Skateboard”, her adroitly crafted chord progressions, and her understated vocal delivery, she conjures an aesthetic world that feels both naive and intelligent — hopeful and discerning. One of my first experiences with Diners was listening to the entirety of Four Wheels and the Truth while going for a run through Berkeley during a full moon. It felt like the perfect way to experience the music, and from that moment on I was enchanted.
Chime School (San Francisco)
In short, Chime School is just perfectly-executed jangle pop. The band’s wistful vocal harmonies and 12-string riffs perfectly trace out the form of a genre tent-poled by bands like The La’s, Trashcan Sinatras, and Teenage Fanclub, but the mixture of contemporary social disillusionment and classic romantic struggle in Andy Pastalaniec’s lyrics make it a welcome reappraisal of the genre.
Bory (Portland)
Some of Bory’s songs truly seem plucked-from-the-ether. You listen to them for the first time and think “this song has always existed”. The ooey-gooey distortion, swirling rotary guitars, and half-whispered vocals of his critically-acclaimed debut album “Who’s A Good Boy” (recorded and produced by Portland powerhouse Mo Troper) create a paradoxically massive-yet-intimate impression that simultaneously envelopes you and coaxes you to lean in closer.
2nd Grade (Philadelphia)
Philadelphia’s five piece 2nd Grade makes use of the same lo-fi tape distortion and jangly longing as similar acts in the genre but often trades catchy, bumper-sticker hooks for long, story-telling screeds. The title of their ambitious 23-track album “Scheduled Explosions” intimates the controlled chaos that suffuses its breezy 38 minute runtime, with Peter Gill’s quiet, unassuming vocals sharing space with distorted tape machine hysteria.
Softjaw (Long Beach)
Relative newcomers, Long Beach’s Softjaw have cemented themselves as terrific songwriters in just a few singles. Showing clear influence from acts like Big Star, they know how to write great chord progressions and weave bread-and-butter guitar licks through simple memorable vocal hooks. In short, they know how to write a damn song, and they know how to rock.
Ducks Ltd. (Toronto)
Though they’ve likely grown past the backhanded descriptor of “up-and-coming”, I couldn’t complete this list of power pop movers and shakers without mentioning these torch-bearing Canadian janglers. Less concerned with rock-n-roll hooks and dramatic breaks, Evan Lewis and Tom McGreevy rely on spring reverbs, buoyant guitar arpeggios, and steady backbeats to create a gorgeous sheen of guitar pop bliss that just goes down smooth.
Young Guv (Toronto)
In the realm of guitar pop, Toronto continues to punch above its weight, producing illustrious acts like Alvvays, Ducks Ltd., and Young Guv. Having recorded the two albums during the COVID lockdown, on GUV III & IV Ben Cook easily transcends the pandemic-recording cliche with inventive songs and textures that offer a 3-dimensionality not always found in the genre. The songs stay true to the 12-string ring and emotive tunes of their peers, but offer a sense of space and production sheen that make for a refreshing and welcome addition to the power pop canon.
Sob Stories (Oakland)
On their debut album, Fair Shakes, the frank innocence and catchy, incisive songwriting of these twelve songs of love and heartbreak offer a refreshing timelessness. Frontman Joel Cusumano has a knack for writing sparkling guitar riffs and delivers his bittersweet lyrics in a conversational baritone that manages to imbue each song with both innocence and cynicism. Sob Stories is now on hiatus, but Joel Cusumano’s first solo record drops in October.
The Wind-Ups (Northern California)
The Wind-Ups carry out one of the most successful executions of the lo-fi idiom in recent memory, with shimmering punk pop tracks that conjure the sound of blown-out headphones and overdriven Walkmans to create sonic works even greater than the sum of their parts. There are many bands who try to use tape distortion to inflate fundamentally underwhelming songs, but if the first single, “(That’s Just My) Dream Girl”, from their upcoming album “Confection” is any indication, The Wind-Ups have the power and songwriting prowess to believably evoke the sound of blown speakers and ringing ears to deliver something sweet and memorable in each of their tidy, two-minute songs.
The Goods (Oakland)
There is plenty of power pop on the lo-fi, 60s-inspired side of the spectrum, but I feel there is a real dearth of that hard-hitting, forward-looking, hi-fi 90s and 2000s guitar pop we heard from bands like Fountains of Wayne and Fastball. That’s why I was so excited when I heard The Goods for the first time (playing alongside Sob Stories) at Thee Stork Club in Oakland. At its core is the classic dewy-eyed heartbreak of the genre, but with some of the jangly guitars, driving drums, and tightly-crafted power chord progressions we’ve been so sorely missing. Their first album drops in September and I’ll be picking it up immediately.
