AVAILABLE ON AMAZON. Jackson Sharp is a former guitar player fresh out of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. He’s on a mission to settle the score with his dead beat dad, but needs to collect some cash from his younger brother and former bandmate, Jamie. He finds Jamie at his struggling Tulsa record shop, but the cash is long gone. Jamie offers up a heist instead—steal a rare copy of a pre-Beatles 45 from a wealthy collector in Memphis. The road trip that follows is the violent family/band reunion that Jackson never wanted.

File under: Big Star, Badfinger, Raspberries, The Records, The Shivvers, Blondie, The Knack, The Go-Go’s, The Romantics, The Bangles, Jellyfish, Teenage Fanclub, Matthew Sweet, Guided By Voices, Fountains Of Wayne, Silver Sun, Supergrass, The Exploding Hearts, The Cry

Are you a reviewer? Have a podcast? Need a guest blogger? swlauden-at-gmail

Word On The Street…

“That’ll Be the Day is an engaging page-turner of a read, with vivid imagery and a sense of gritty realism permeating its pages. Lauden’s style is breezy and enjoyable, even as the story takes some dark and foreboding turns. And hey—where else are you gonna find crime fiction that name checks power pop royalty such as 20/20, Dwight Twilley and Raspberries?”—John M. Borack, author of Shake Some Action 2.0: A Guide to the 200 Greatest Power Pop Albums 1970-2017

“Rock and roll, rare guitars, vintage vinyl and criminal mayhem—what more could a crime fiction and music lover ask for? I thoroughly enjoyed S.W. Lauden’s That’ll Be The Day and can’t wait to see what’s on the flip-side!” —Lisa Brackmann, author of Rock Paper Tiger and Black Swan Rising

“Sharply written, full of twists and delightfully real characters, and seriously tough to put down, That’ll Be the Day is a record collector’s dream and a down-and-out musician’s nightmare. It’s a heist, but wholly original, and suffused with the kind of music geek details only a lover of the history of power pop could provide, and the genuine heartbreak that comes from living the life of a struggling band in the 21st century….It’s about crime, it’s about family, and it’s about scoring that one last hit in more ways than one.”—Rex Broome, Big Stir Records and The Armoires

“Imagine if Bob and Tommy Stinson went on a crime spree. That’ll Be The Day is a smart, fun, and focused crime fiction E.P. Both a celebration of music and a cracking heist story, the book manages to take a sly jab at all the ways we can let fandom—or crime—distract from what really matters about music and family. It’s a tale about personal connections and heart. It just happens to also have a really great heist.”—Jay Stringer, author of the Marah Chase novels

“The disparate worlds of sunny power pop music and desperate criminals converge in this gritty short like fire and gasoline….Put your favorite power pop album on play, and brace yourself for a thrill-packed series of unexpected twists and turns!“—Jeff Rougvie, author of the Gunning For Hits comic series and Big Enough To Matter, Small Enough To Care: The Rykodisc Story

“‘Pistol popping power pop pulp fiction. I loved it!”—Paul D. Brazill, Last Year’s Man and Punk Noir Magazine

Thanks for scrolling to the bottom of the page. As a reward, here’s a Power Pop playlist I created on YouTube: