XOXOX (Independent)
Sweetheart might not be the most prolific act around—this six-track release is the first we’ve heard from the band since its debut LP came out in 2007—but its songs display an attention to detail that suggests it hasn’t spent the past four years perfecting its hair.
It’s not that Sweetheart’s compositions are particularly complex, though. Quite the opposite is true, but economy is the group’s greatest strength. Witness “London Girl”: built on a rock-solid foundation of churning power chords, the song surges forward and explodes into its chorus with a burst of melody that will resonate with anyone who ever wondered why the Killers got huge and Stellastarr didn’t.
Which is another way of saying that if you like your power pop crisply played and tightly arranged, you could do a lot worse than numbers like the punkish opener “Perfect” or the synth-buzzed closing salvo “Less Conversation”. The latter finds frontman Marty Zylstra howling emotively on the chorus without ever losing sight of the hook, which is something he seems to have dead in his sights at all times.
(Jon Lucas - Georgia Straight)
Sweetheart might not be the most prolific act around—this six-track release is the first we’ve heard from the band since its debut LP came out in 2007—but its songs display an attention to detail that suggests it hasn’t spent the past four years perfecting its hair.
It’s not that Sweetheart’s compositions are particularly complex, though. Quite the opposite is true, but economy is the group’s greatest strength. Witness “London Girl”: built on a rock-solid foundation of churning power chords, the song surges forward and explodes into its chorus with a burst of melody that will resonate with anyone who ever wondered why the Killers got huge and Stellastarr didn’t.
Which is another way of saying that if you like your power pop crisply played and tightly arranged, you could do a lot worse than numbers like the punkish opener “Perfect” or the synth-buzzed closing salvo “Less Conversation”. The latter finds frontman Marty Zylstra howling emotively on the chorus without ever losing sight of the hook, which is something he seems to have dead in his sights at all times.
(Jon Lucas - Georgia Straight)
No comments:
Post a Comment