First off, if these guys really believe the line from their press bio that attempts to sonically link them with Chuck Berry, Ritchie Valens, and Howlin’ Wolf, they gotta be HUFFING Clorox®, not merely bleaching their hair with it. Truth be told, the band currently actually sounds like a cross between two other Portland bands, the Wipers and the Exploding Hearts—although curiously both overtly punker and overtly popper than either of them. Punky and poppy, with proper reverence for strong tunes of brief duration, yet with still a pervasive Wipersly aura of sadness and minor chords and shit and some weird fetish for French pop music tossed into the mix to throw the hounds off their trail. I like the band, but have always been troubled by the fact that none of their songs are particularly memorable. Case in point: I’ve listened to this disc numerous times, but am currently re-inserting it so I can see what is the… BEST SONG: Oh yeah, “Dreaming of St. Kiley.” See, I knew that, but forgot it. Weird. BEST SONG TITLE: “Boys Girls,” because I have issues with “Le Banana Split” being a cover not originally performed by the Banana Splits. FANTASTIC AMAZING TRIVIA FACT: The liner notes include this statement: “MMM. 17 TV.”
–norb (BYO)