Junkie

I like where genres intersect. This band (or person; there's no info other than a Junkie e-mail address, a photo of a guy playing the guitar and singing, a Brooklyn recording address, and a Chicago label home) has a slew of undeniably catchy tunes that could slot into any number of bins at a CD store. Yes, it's that place where power pop (their main influence), indie guitar pop, new wave pop, and straightforward singer/songwriter mature-pop all meet. The intentionally pathetic and shallow, vicarious love of "Boyfriend," the big hooks of "This Time," "Say," and "Waiting," and the syrupy vocal of the more mellow, winsome "Within" all bespeak a man of actual talent who knows the pop craft, musically, vocally, and lyrically inside and out. He's spunky (he's got just enough grit), he's melodious rock, and he's singalong-ready-complete with the best kind of power pop harmonies, hurrah. Out of the bushels of inconsequential, shabbily conceived CDs that seem to pile up like snow-plow snowdrifts on roadsides in a blizzard, Junkie is that rare pop drug that is completely feel-good: excellent for big-tune pop addicts everywhere! (2110 S. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60608; danny@bombco.com)