Shortly before my Spinning Jennies called it quits back in 2003 the band recorded some basic tracks for two songs that were shelved and never finished. Well, Jeff Shelton of The Well Wishers has taken these tracks from his old band and finished them up for you!
DOWNLOAD “Down”
DOWNLOAD “I before E”
The band also turned up on the ABC show “Motherhood” with the track “Seashells” from the “How I Won The War” album playing at the beginning of a scene. Jeff is working on a new album due out in early 2010.
Miles Nielsen “Miles” The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, where the son of Cheap Trick guitarist, Rick Nielsen has broken out on his own. Musically, Miles uses Beatles bounce, country twang, and clean production to create a pleasant pop/rock sound. The experience is like hearing The Wallflowers and Big Star jamming with The Jayhawks. It opens with the immediate “A Festival” and casual “Gravity Girl” and both songs are catchy and sincere with smart guitar rhythms and organ support. The folky “Lost My Mind” is a gorgeous ballad that suits Miles rough vocal well. His vocal sound remind you of his dad a bit (Julian Lennon had that issue too). But best tracks lie at the heart of the album’s middle. The excellent “1938” has that Beatlesque bounce and “Don’t You” has an energy filled melody on par with The Kinks. The laid back tracks dominate the latter part of the album, and “Good Heart Sway” has a sweet chorus that plays nicely against the melancholy theme. Miles wears the troubadour tag well in the more folk inspired songs. Fans of Josh Rouse, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan will also surely enjoy this uplifting debut.
Big Fresh “B.F.F. (Big Fresh Forever)” Lexington, Kentucky popsters Big Fresh have been opening for The Apples in Stereo and spreading their alt. pop manifesto to the head-bopping masses. Mastered by The Apples man himself (Robert Schneider) this ambitious tapestry of danceable tracks, bubbling soundscapes, electric light harmonies and synthetic orchestrations will take you to a new planet. Run by John Ferguson (guitar) and Ben Phelan (keyboards), it slowly unfolds with the organs on “Secret Public” then goes into a faux radio signature “W.L.U.V.” The album plays like some mutant Elephant Six version of Frank Zappa, Devo and Radiohead combined. Some gems are sitting amongst the strangeness, like the pop new wave bounce of “W.T.O.” and the campfire sing-song of “Joy Bomb#1.” Like a similar band, Team Genius it gets far on sheer atmosphere and with Schneider’s help it holds your interest across 13 tracks. Unfortunately, repeatability is a problem here – I did not feel that compelled to listen to more than a few tracks again. However, if you are an Apples in Stereo completist, this is essential.
Doctor Squid “Doctor Squid” Doctor Squid is a lively Athens, GA band lead by Larry Cardinal and Mark Spurlock. This is one of those bands that doesn’t fit nicely in a pigeonhole — they remind me of a lot of early Weezer (Blue album), with a touch of The Creaky Boards, Police and Green Day. This is also very catchy alternative pop as evidenced by the bouncy “On My Way.” The loud “Whoa” chorus gets stuck in your head pretty quickly. “Take A Look” makes good use of those background “oohs” and hand claps with a driving bass line. The buzzing guitar and gentle harmonies of “Things We’ve Chased” and “Victoria” is juxtaposed by verse that describe a set of interesting situations about women. The funkier songs here have a studied sloppiness to them that is both compelling and laid back (“Down By The River” and “Atomic Reaction”). One of the best songs “3am Electric” has a persistent rhythm and great lyrics. The music is pretty consistent and a few times they try to get too cute (like the very long “The Day It Rained Hot Coffee”), but these missteps are rare in an overall very good debut. Download the single “On My Way” for FREE
The Beat Seekers “Dead Air Radio” It’s fair to say that this Omaha, Nebraska band has studied it’s homework. It was recorded at Gravity and Full Motion Studios in Chicago, IL with producer Matt Opal, using both analog and digital techniques, to get across the theme of an AM radio show. The clean sound of “All Dolled Up” recalls the Del Amitri, The Elvis Brothers and Farrah. The album’s title track is a fast paced toe tapper and the guitar on “Cinderellas Demise” has a wonderful jangle rhythm. The Rembrandts-like guitar strum and light chorus are recalled on “Passerby.” But the album hits a home run with “Lipstick Crush Delight” a wonderful melodic song full of strong riffs and harmonic perfection. The other tracks try to be as tight, and nearly succeed with hook filled middle eights and minor chords all over “Anything Wont Do.” Even the country twangs of “Save Tonight” keep up the energy level here. The near acoustic ballad “Better Days” remind me of Extreme’s “More Than Words” a little bit. The band tries a little too hard for “Solutions M.I.A.” but that can be forgiven with this superb 14 track effort. This is a band to keep on your radar for sure.
After doing the entire “Meet the Beatles” cover album, The Smithereens decided to make a proper, all-out studio version of one of the albums that inspired their rock dreams of becoming a band in the first place for this 40th anniversary tribute. The Who’s unique sound will never be duplicated, but then again neither will The Smithereens’ sound that has made them enduring rock icons over the past 25 plus years. The result is part Who, part Smithereens. It sounds really good instrumentally as usual, and it works well. But Pat DiNizio’s vocal limitations are clear when compared to Roger Daltry (listen to “I’m Free” to see what I mean).
Recently saw the movie Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and one of the funniest parts of the movie is when Dewey goes through a Brian Wilson phase, complete with a Smile-era parody suite called “Black Sheep” – what suprised me is that’s actually written by Smile co-writer Van Dyke Parks! The movie misses as often as it hits, but the music is what is makes it memorable. Lots of tunes here were written by Mike Viola, Marshall Crenshaw, Dan Bern and Charlie Wadhams. The soundtrack was nominated for both a Grammy and Golden Globe Award and was nominated and won the Sierra Award for Best Song in a Motion Picture from the Las Vegas Film Critics Society.
