Cheap Trick

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Amazon

These old proto-new wavers have been around forever. But don’t think they’ve gotten long in the tooth or anything like that. Their energetic brand of power pop still has a powerful charge and even a bit of early British punk spark. The Chicago legends have a new live album out, recorded over four nights in the cozy confines of a small Chicago club, the Metro, just footsteps from the legendary “friendly confines” of Wrigley Field.

As expected, the band charges through their classics ("Surrender" and “Dream Police” among them), what’s unexpected is that they do it with the vitality and urgency of men being chased through the streets by running bulls. I won’t fool you by alleging that Music For Hangovers belongs in the same stratosphere with At Budokan, but old fans will rejoice that their heros are still in fine form and today’s alternative rock fans may get a glimpse of where their 1990s power pop comes from.