"No, you can't be on our guest list!" This blunt reply from the girl who answers the phone at the Viper Room was a pretty good indication that I wasn't gonna see Nancy Sinatra and famed '60s drum lord Hal Blaine at the overrated Sunset Strip nightspot. Fine with me! Like I really wanna be stuck in Saturday night traffic on Sunset Boulevard while a bunch of out-of-towners clog up the street gawking at all the brightly lit, big city hotspots. Unfortunately, it wasn't much better across town in Silverlake, where the Sunset Junction Street Fair was causing snarling traffic problems for locals. And I'm sorry to say this, but the entertainment downright sucked this year too; aside from a few noteworthy acts like Rosie Flores and former Extra Fancy shouter Brian Grillo, I can't think of any other artists scheduled during the weekend that would cause me to haul an ice chest and beach chair down to Sunset Boulevard on a 95 degree day to sit around and guzzle beer. Slurpees maybe, but not beer.

Suffice to say, it was my disgust with the above event that hurled me head first into the International Pop Overthrow festival for an entire week. Not to be confused with the like-minded Poptopia festival, I.P.O. claimed to bring a high number of international acts to LA, and despite massive scheduling pandemonium over the past few months, the event actually turned out to be quite a success and every gig I attended was packed. Festival brainchild/pop scribe David Bash seemed to be out of his head at first: 16 shows in 11 days. Do we need this much pop? Not really. Imagine downing a 12-pack of Pepsi and an entire box of Cap'n Crunch cereal all at once (without milk). I think you get the idea. Now let me tell ya' what went down:

Permanent Press Records hosted a big Spaceland shindig on the above mentioned ill-fated Saturday night, with performances from the label's pub-rock worshippers Walter Clevenger and the Dairy Kings, dizzying sugar popsters Chewy Marble, and French sensations the William Pears, who gave a rousing performance of sparkling, XTC inspired jangle-pop. This was also the night in which I first witnessed Bash's soon-to-become-legendary Dick Clark-like band intros.

Longtime scene supporter/powerpop madman Elliot Kendall caused quite a stir on Sunday at Jack's Sugar Shack with his "powerpop powerjive" set in which he was backed by a string quartet, while Baby Wonderade --Nick from Wondermints and Rusty from Baby Lemonade--delighted with a short set of acoustic bliss that continued with the soft-rock elegance of Single Bullet Theory, a band who somehow fuse together Spandau Ballet and the Walker Brothers without sounding ridiculous. At some point during the evening, I hopped over to Jumbo's Clown Room to see the Groovey Rednecks, but it's all a blur after that. The strongest I.P.O. night in my opinion was at the El Rey, with a fab debut from splendid Byrds-stylists Jiffipop and legendary Rhode Island/California combo the Velvet Crush, who utilized the talents of guitarist Parthenon Huxley for tonight's gig, their first in two years! I also dug a rare set from '80s paisley underground survivors Wednesday Week and Britpop lovers the Tearaways. Too bad though that the Hutchinsons had to ruin the night with a godawful mess of "ego rock" posturing usually reserved for the Forum stage. Another night at Spaceland, and Berkeley pop heroes the Rubinoos were absolutely perfect with their Raspberries/Beach Boys-styled California pop and wall-of-harmonies, although some folks in the crowd thought they possessed too much sheen and resembled the kind of band you'd find John Stamos fronting on Full House.

Hmmm, don't remember much from the Martini Lounge, except sitting in a lavish corner booth and popping M&M Minis with members of the Jupiter Affect, the Julies, and Trinket while practically snoozing through Cindy Lee Berryhill and then being rocked out of control by Martin Luther Lennon. I busted out the earplugs for this show.

The Gig was packed with loudmouth college knuckleheads and pop geeks alike for the big John Easdale/Gripweeds/Jason Falkner/Beat Angels hit parade. Former Jellyfish/Grays member Falkner performed only with his guitar, which gave off a strange "this-is-a-rare-performance" kinda vibe, but nonetheless he was outstanding and didn't seem to mind when I called out for tunes from his ex-Grays buddy Jon Brion.

Another Saturday night, and I ended up in enemy territory--Orange County--at Fitzgerald's Irish Pub, for the sole purpose of seeing the 100 Faces, who I missed the night before at the Gig. Now that they've changed their name from Brian Jones Was Murdered to avoid confusion with the Brian Jonestown Massacre, they can concentrate on their stylish mod/powerpop dreams without having to worry about a bunch of confused fans showing up at their gigs burned out on psychedelics. Thus ends my I.P.O. saga, but a couple more things I wanna mention ...

Old-school LA powerpop faves 20/20 finished up a long day at the Garage after playing earlier in the day at the sweltering Garden Grove Festival Amphitheater as part of I.P.O., and proved that they still have (pardon the pun ...) the knack for writing pure pop treasures that rank with their classic moments like "Yellow Pills" and "Remember the Lightning." Foxy surf queens the Neptunas held a record release bash for Let Them Eat Tuna (Sympathy For the Record Industry) at Gabah, and played a typically shambolic-yet-glorious set that ended up with some weirdo up on stage go-go dancing in a motorcycle helmet.

And finally, I should mention "Third Thursday" at Highland Grounds, an acoustic showcase for LA bandmembers to turn down the amps and do solo sets and gab with the crowd. The most recent summit featured noted tunesmiths Abbie Travis, Carolyn Edwards, Daryll Jensen, Martin Luther Lennon, and Mark Fletcher, whose doomsday ditties (think Jonathan Richman armwrestling with Nick Drake) were only overshadowed by between song remarks such as "Sorry I didn't have much time to rehearse, I was trying to have a life." Hey, in the context of a coffee house, that's a helluva lot better than "I hear a lot of you out there like to drink vodka and orange juice!!!" Pop is dead.

Listen for Jim Freek's scene report on The Chris Carter Mess every Sunday at 11:01 p.m. on Y107 (107.1 FM).

© Jim Freek