SUSSMAN LAWRENCE Pop City (Orange)

Powerpop ain’t dead yet, we just didn’t hear from all the provinces during the first go-round. These guys hail from Minnesota’s Twin Cities stronghold, and even though they can’t afford to move into Prince’s purple-lawned neighborhood just yet, they sound like potential airwave contenders. Lead singer/songwriter Peter Himmelman’s been billed as another E. Costello, and the voice and phrasing fit, even if he’s apparently no angrier than the (come to think of it) contempo pals-withDaryl-Hall Elvoid himself. Bright pop with echoes of the Rascals, Turtles, etc., this double-length cassette zips by like an authentic replica of ’60s AM radio. Even the dull songs (there are a couple, just as in the catalogues of the enshrined Beatles et al.) are three minutes or less worth of dullness & then it’s time for another neon-sweatshirt goodie, real quick. Naturally (they’re post-modern). Orange Records, P.0. Box 0316, Minneapolis, MN 55401. R.R.