The Flashcubes – “Pop Masters” Album Review — 20 Watts Magazine | Premier Music Publication of SU

The hook of this record isn’t solely the fact that The ‘Cubes did a smashing job of recreating classic pop tunes with a modern spin – it’s that for more than half of the songs on the record, the original artists were featured on the track that they penned. Having recorded the entire album remotely, swapping tracks back and forth online made some of these unexpected collaborations possible. 

“Each time Tommy would just pick a song, or we throw one at him and he’d say, yeah, let’s try that, and it was all just like, you know, back in the old days– when there were cassettes –we used to make mixtapes, to give each other, to give to friends, and to listen to on the way to gigs and they would have all our favorite power pop songs on them,” said band member Gary Frenay. 

According to Frenay, every artist they asked to collaborate with during the process ended up being more than excited to work with them on a cover. Every artist they contacted ended up working out, barring one late Dwight Twilley. As a result of scheduling conflicts, the coordination of the project simply couldn’t happen. Still, Twilley gave his stamp of approval, sharing The ‘Cubes rendition of his track “Alone In My Room” to his socials.

The ‘Cubes cover serves now, as a testament to the amazing musician that Twilley was. Their rendition of this song shows one of the many ways in which Twilley impacted the pop community and will be forever remembered as a legend among power pop fans around the world.

While succeeding with flying colors at achieving its express purpose as a cover album, “Pop Masters” does far more than just this. The record takes well-loved classics and transforms them into something entirely new. The record is chock-full of embellishments and reinterpretations.

The Posies’ classic “Flavor Of The Month” is reimagined as a shimmering, Rickenbacker-driven anthem, retaining only the slightest hint of melancholy that the original is mired in. The backing vocals during the intro of “Forget About You” by The Motors seem to poke fun at the song’s inherent similarity to the classic 10cc track “I’m Not In Love”. Even simple changes such as a fuller guitar tone on Pilot’s “Get Up And Go” make the soaring guitar harmonies pop out of the mix, something the original tune doesn’t quite do in the same way. 

Whether intentional or not, it’s the large assortment of small details like these that show The ‘Cubes not only covered a delicious batch of pop tracks but took occasionally dated recordings and transformed the underlying work into clean and sparkling 21st-century pop perfection. The variety of pop classics covered on the record is truly remarkable, spanning a handful of decades from early classics like Cyrus Erie’s “Get The Message” to more modern standards such as “Flavor Of The Month.” The diversity of song choice on this record is representative of a true and unabashed love for pop and dedication to its craft. 

One of the record’s notable cover-collaborations is “Have You Ever Been Torn Apart?” by The Spongetones. Despite The Spongetones recently joining the same label as The ‘Cubes, the connection between the two bands was formed long before they became labelmates. Their relationship was first formed when drummer and producer Tommy Allen while working at the China Club in New York, saw the Spongetones play. A decade later, the two groups were on the same bill at an IPO event in the city, and their relationship was even further cemented.

“Pop Masters” is The Flashcubes’ first release under Big Stir Records, the label that is now home to both bands. Frenay gave the new label high praise.

“They’re so active on social media, and they do so much with so little as far as getting the word out. To be honest, we have gotten more notoriety in the last two years than we have in the last 45 years, all because of Big Stir records, which is really cool.”

Just as appealing to fans from the ‘70s as to the youngest generation inhabiting the campus grounds where The ‘Cubes once made their name, “Pop Masters” is a fantastic example of how to honor, own, and completely win at making an album for fun and for the sake of everything that power pop stands for. While The Flashcubes do not have any plans at present to continue the “Pop Masters” project, two members, Allen and Frenay, have continued a new chapter of the project under the appropriately named The Half-Cubes. Their latest single, “Love’s Melody,” originally made popular by The Searchers and penned by Andy McMasters, was released on October 13th.