I spent this past weekend being continually reminded of my age, in ways that were both good and knee-weakening. Among many other indicators, there was the presence of songs that were once as contemporary as can be to me (and still maintain that freshness, at least in my head, heart, and soul) that have been transformed by the relentless shedding of calendar pages into bonafide oldies. Then there were the moments when a certain song could stir other thoughts that, when they reached their logical endpoints, were a little devastating. For example, the appearance of a Material Issue song certainly called to mind plenty of days, to borrow from one of the own offerings, driving around with the radio up and the windows down, but it also got me thinking about the untimely end of Material Issue’s chief songwriter and lead singer, Jim Ellison. The inspired crafter of modern power pop took his own life in the summer of 1996, meaning its been nearly twenty years since the tragic event. Twenty years!

I don’t the circumstances that led Ellison to make the choice he did, and I don’t care to know. There’s certainly enough melancholy infused into his songs to somewhat alleviate the shock. Anyone who could pine and mope so earnestly and tunefully surely carried some sadness with him. Happily, there’s no retroactive pall cast on the songs (as has happened with some of Nirvana’s most pointedly brutal tracks). The joyous material can still swell the heart, and even the sad ballads haven’t shifted their meaning to become more tragic.

After Ellison’s passing, there was still one album of Material Issue music left. It was released in 1997 by Rykodisc, under the name Telecommando Americano, an oddly fitting bookend title to that of their debut, International Pop Overthrow. Again, there’s no roadmap to Ellison’s sad story, just the same collection of grandly exquisite pop songs, crafted with an attention to melody, punchiness, and expert hooks that should bring any discerning music fan to their knees in gratitude. I saw them play live once, and I can confirm that the songs that sounded like brilliant blasts delivered by a talented group only hit harder when the band roared through them. “What If I Killed Your Boyfriend?,” from that final album, would have been a scorcher on stage. I wish I could’ve seen them play it. Really, I wish Ellison were still around, and I go see him and his cohorts play it tonight.

Listen or download –> Material Issue, “What If I Killed Your Boyfriend?”

(Disclaimer: To the best of my reckoning, Telecommando Americano is out of print as a physical object. It’s worth seeking out in used shops, but there is no way to go to you favorite local, independently-owned record store and purchase it in a manner that duly compensates both the artist and the proprietor of said shop. Two other Material Issue albums–International Pop Overthrow and Freak City Soundtrack–do seem to be available, and both are highly recommended, especially the former. Think about placing an order when making your hefty Record Store Day purchases tomorrow, won’t you? All this tapped out, I will gladly remove this song from this humble corner of the interweb if asked to do so by any person or entity with due authority to make such a request.)