Only recently did I get to enjoy Cheap Star’s debut album “Speaking Like An Elephant” released earlier this year. It’s an obvious mix of Cheap Trick and Big Star in the name, but the sound is The Posies, Teenage Fanclub, Byrds, and Velvet Crush. In fact, this is almost a Posies album with Ken Stringfrellow and Jon Auer deeply involved here (producing, mixing, playing, etc.) . The other members from France are Remi, Thomas and Vincent and they are very good musicians that carry over the style perfectly. With the second album, Jon Auer formally collaborates with the trio and includes vocals. “Northern Sky” builds into a first class single with Auer’s vocal a smooth as ever. The other tracks are a bit more low key, as “Pop Music” and “You Got It All” sound like outtakes from the first album. “Changing Heart” is a robust, country tune that would make Gene Clark proud. It ends with the strong guitar work on “Josephine” and Auer projects the intensity of a doomed relationship and dueling harmonies of “I guess I’ll never know why.” For fans of the first album, this is a no-brainer – I would have most pop fans start with Speaking… first, as it’s another strong contender for my top ten of 2009 list, so don’t let it slip by you.
The split ep is available thru digital downloads now.
The songs at the myspace sound good. It would be nice if they would get to iTunes or eMusic.