If
the Apples in Stereo had only made
Fun Trick Noisemaker and then quit, their legacy as a legendary pop group would have been secure. In 1995, nobody else was making records as giddy or as full of wonder as
the Apples, and definitely no one was making records as exquisitely arranged and magical on a shoestring budget. The release of
Fun Trick was a defining moment in indie rock that came pretty close to being a lo-fi pop masterpiece, and still sounds just as amazing. That
the Apples couldn't top it is no cause for shame on their part; that they kept trying and ended up creating a catalog as rich in great songs and records is cause for celebration. The cheekily titled
#1 Hits Explosion is just the kind of career-summing package the band deserves and it makes clear just how wonderful a band it is. Gathering songs in roughly equal numbers from all six of their studio albums (and adding the infectious rocker "Signal in the Sky [Let's Go]" that they recorded for The Powerpuff Girls' Heroes & Villains soundtrack), the collection focuses mostly on the ultra-hooky, power pop-influenced side of the band. Starting with the booming rocker "Energy" from their most recent record,
New Magnetic Wonder, the songs fly past like gooey sticks of bubblegum, glowing and shimmering like the finest pop music of the '60s and '70s. "The Rainbow," "Go," "Shine a Light," and "Ruby" (just to pick four) could have easily been hits in 1967 given the right circumstances, "Shine a Light" sounds like a low-budget
ELO, and there's absolutely no reason "Signal in the Sky" wasn't topping the charts in 2000. Only "Strawberry Fire" and "20 Cases Suggestive Of..." hint at the trippy, hazily psychedelic side of the group, but even then the hooks in the choruses are strong enough that you could hang a cement overcoat from them with no problem. The possible flaw with the collection is that -- as is the case with any such album -- one of your favorite tracks might be missing ("Glowworm" from
Fun Trick, for example). Otherwise, it works as both an excellent overview of the band's career and as a document of some of the finest pop music of the alt-rock era (and maybe of ever). ~ Tim Sendra