“International Pop Overthrow”, Material Issue

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Material Issue was an American power pop trio from Chicago, Illinois. The band's trademark is pop songs with themes of love and heartbreak. A number of their song titles used women's first names.

Material Issue was formed in 1985, led by frontman Jim Ellison, who played guitar, sang lead vocals, and wrote most of the band's songs. Ellison met bassist Ted Ansani while both were attending Columbia College Chicago in 1986. Drummer Mike Zelenko was found through an ad in the Illinois Entertainer later that year.

In 1987, Material Issue released an eponymous EP on their own label, Big Block. The label operated out of Ellison's bedroom at his parents' home in Addison, Illinois, and was named for the big block engines of the 1970s muscle cars Ellison loved. In 1988, their song "Sixteen Tambourines" appeared on CMJ New Music Report's compilation and their music was described by CMJ as a "hooky brand of high-powered psycho-pop". In 1989, Material Issue released the single "Renee Remains The Same", which received heavy airplay around Chicago. 

Material Issue continued touring, selling out venues throughout the upper Midwest. Throughout the remainder of 1995 and into 1996, Material Issue recorded a set of new songs with the intention of shopping them to a new label. However, Ellison died by suicide on June 20, 1996 by carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage. A note was found by police, the contents of which were not released publicly. The recordings from 1995 and 1996 were released posthumously on Telecommando Americano in 1997 by Rykodisc as the final Material Issue release, along with the band's six-song debut EP from 1987 as a bonus. 

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