Tuesday, February 10, 2026

The Cheap Cassettes: Ten Golden Greats




I usually don't write "in memoriam" posts for bands, so I won't quite do that for the The Cheap Cassettes in the wake of their recently announced disbandment. I believe what I've written about this band over the years more than suffices for a proper tribute. I'm not in the mood for any sad shit. But given that I was with this band from the beginning, I ought to be there at the end as well. As a public service to anyone who might still be unfamiliar with this band's catalog, I now present to you my top ten all-time favorite Cheap Cassettes songs. This was very difficult to pick just ten tracks from a catalog that included three full-length albums and three 7" records. Damn it, Charles — why do you have to be so brilliant? But I think if you look at what this band put out over the course of the years 2011–24, you could argue, without hyperbole, that this was one of the five or ten best power pop groups of the past two decades. What a body of work! Someday, books will be written about this band (probably by me — ha ha!). And people will eventually pound the table for an overpriced reunion tour. I'm not saying that what lies below is the band's definitive "greatest hits." These are just my personal favorite tracks. But a lot of bands would wish to have a best-of collection as good as this. If you believe, as I do, in power pop as one of the purest forms of rock 'n' roll, The Cheap Cassettes are a band you need to know about, even in retrospect. Alright, let's go! 

10. "Disappear with You" (2016) 

If my memory serves me correct, this was a song that Charles just had sitting around when Malibu Lou wanted a new track for a Rum Bar Records reissue of The Cheap Cassettes' debut album All Anxious, All The Time. Imagine having something this good in your secret stash of songs!

9. "Wreckless" (2013) 

This was a very early Cheap Cassettes song. All of us who had been waiting for Charles to write his own "Bastards of Young" were finally rewarded.

8. "Red Line Blue" (2022) 

I consider this one of The Cheap Cassettes' finest "deep cuts." When I talk about Charles Matthews being not just a great punk or power pop songwriter but rather a great songwriter, period, I can point to this song as a prime example. This is music with soul.

7. "Hung the Moon" (2024)

What was I just saying?

6. "See Her In Action!" (2021) 

Will they someday make physical compilations of the best of 2020s power pop when CDs come back into mass popularity? If so, this will be on a lot of them.

5. "Fade to Nothin'" (2024)

Side two, track 1 from the best album anyone put out in 2024.

4. "My Little Twin" (2011) 

Now we're going way back. I love that this song was never "properly" recorded. The original rough version that was shared with the world via Bandcamp back before anyone else was using Bandcamp remains the definitive version of this stone cold banger.

3. "How I Got What I Wanted" (2022) 

I'm not saying I have pandemic nostalgia, but this song sure takes me back.

2. "Bad Xerox" (2024) 

If your ex ends up with an inferior version of you, that's a win, right?

1. "Kiss The Ass Of My Heart" (2018)

Quite possibly the greatest song ever written by anyone.

There you have it. I know some of you will be outraged about me overlooking "New Gun In Town," perplexed about me snubbing "She Ain't Nothing Like You," and apoplectic about me sleeping on "Worse N' Better." But tough choices had to be made. RIP The Cheap Cassettes. If you like what you've heard, smash the links below for a whole lot more power pop rock 'n' roll goodness! 

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