Gary
Glauber
Reviews:
July,
2005

Scroll down for the latest from David Mead, Fountains of Wayne, Fran Smith, Jr., The Cyclones, The Afternoons and The Heavenly States

David Mead
Wherever You Are

(Eleven Thirty)

Release Date: June 28, 2005

www.davidmead.com

In late 2002, David Mead and bandmates Whynot Jansveld and Ethan Eubanks headed up to Woodstock NY to record with producer Stephen Hague (New Order, Blur, Pet Shop Boys) what was supposed to Mead's third release with RCA Records. The musicians later relocated to Bath England, where Tchad Blake (Neil Finn, Los Lobos, Sheryl Crow) mixed most of the tracks. As final mixes were being printed, everyone was ecstatic about the new album and its songs, most of which captured the end of David Mead's love affair with New York City (he had moved back to Nashville).

But the music industry is fraught with bizarre twists. Two weeks later, RCA announced a merger with another label that included massive downsizing. David Mead was one of the artists dropped from the label, and *Wherever You Are* remained unreleased, collecting dust, while a morass of legal settlements ensued.

In reaction, Mead spent a few months writing a bunch of quiet, introspective songs. He soon signed on with another label and released many of those new songs as Indiana in May 2004. Wherever You Are faded into the background, a what-could-have been transformed into a somewhat distant lost opportunity.

Now, in the summer of 2005, David Mead has unearthed six of the songs from that long unreleased album. He likens it to the experience of discovering rolls of undeveloped film, and having them developed: the surreal sensation of seeing details of another time in one's life from a later perspective. He still loves these songs, and now listeners can too.

The opening title track reflects a somewhat stoic attitude of struggling against fate and accidents, set within a beautiful melody and delicate arrangement. Mead's gorgeous voice is the assured and emotive focal point to his music, and always a pleasure to behold. Here it's no exception, in a rhetorical questioning middle bridge: "Did you wait 'til the sun was out of season / better fade into shadows or you might get burned / when you're high, hear my words and you'll believe them / consolation for a lesson you might have learned."

"Hold On" is a sweetly optimistic song of encouragement and determination. Mead urges a lovelorn friend to wait out the bad times, promising consolation and hope: "If I could console you with a little hero's song where everyone adores you, would you try to sing along? / Hold on to yourself, until you find somebody else / Hang on, love is real, and though it's left you all alone, I know its light will lead you home."

"Only A Dream" is a little more jazzy and moody, employing some minor chords to echo the lyrical explorations of the difficult aspects of living in NYC: " Sundays are the best, blanketed in silence, perfect in the place where you are./ Comfortable I guess, but no man is an island, breaking waves and shooting at stars / Paperback is done, so move out to the corner, dive into the sea of the crowd, / They say it's all been done, and life is made to order, counting cracks and thinking out loud / But if you awake with a shake and a shiver, from down in the depths you've seen / Just leave it behind, close your eyes and remember it's only a dream." Mead serves up hope even in hard times, and does so with a light lyrical touch.

Perhaps the most beautiful song here is "Astronaut," Mead's reluctant farewell and love song to New York. Mead claims to love New York in the way a man might love a particularly volatile woman with whom he realizes he can't stay. This song's lyrics marvelously capture this bittersweet departure from a place that wasn't as permanent as he'd once hoped it would be: "So baby open your canyons up and sweep me right along /
Wont you give me your cold embrace, I'll give you one more song / Then you tell me a lie and say you'll miss me when I'm gone / 'Cause I'm leaving the ground tonight, I'm over your ceiling / 'Cause down in your sinking lives, life is but a dream and
though you may pretend, this is how it ends, gone again."

"Make It Right" follows that departure, a musical entreaty for redemption: "This is just the final curtain call, after such a long elaborate fall / I was only fighting for my life, but now I want a chance to make it right." Mead is picking up the pieces, reflecting on what's been left behind - with that winning music and voice, how could he be refused a second chance?

This mini-CD ends with Mead's sweet melodic love letter to the big apple, "How Much," wherein he recounts some of the many things he'll miss about the city: " Suicidal morning of pink and purple glow / The city's up and yawning, a blanket made of snow /
Sentimental movie from many years ago / You don't know how much I'm gonna miss you." The song ends abruptly, almost as if only half done.

While only 22 plus minutes of music, Wherever You Are offers up six quiet, mature songs that express genuine warmth and emotional intelligence amidst what was a major life change. Mead's voice remains a rare gift, and these quality bittersweet love songs to a city he reluctantly leaves are a welcome surprise, musical snapshots from years ago that I, for one, am glad to encounter even so long after the fact.

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Fountains of Wayne
Out Of State Plates

(Virgin)

Release Date: June 28, 2005

www.fountainsofwayne.com

While a 2-CD compilation of rarities and B-sides from Fountains of Wayne is certain to please devoted fans and ardent completists, what makes Out Of State Plates so enjoyable for everyone else is the relatively high level of quality sustained throughout this varied collection.

With each new album FOW has advanced some, taking their brand of wry humor, astute observation and infectious pop to higher levels. Yet while their most recent studio release,Welcome Interstate Managers, married the sublime and the ridiculous exquisitely, there are great tracks that merit revisiting on each of their first two CDs as well. The basic fact is Fountains of Wayne have never put out a bad studio CD.

Therefore, it stands to reason that even their "throwaway" tracks and covers will be better than most. While some of these songs are noticeably less polished efforts than much of their studio brethren, it's fair to say most of them actually are rather good, and reflect that same unique perspective we've come to expect from songwriters Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger.

The two discs open in similar fashion, with short audio clips from radio shows (one from NPR and the other from WFUV), followed by great new songs. These new tunes, arguably the best ones here, are further testament to the band's getting better and better.

The single "Maureen" is uber-catchy, telling the sad tale of a friend who would rather be a lover caught up with a woman who offers too much graphic information about her dreams and love life. "The Girl I Can't Forget" is another infectious winner, laced with upbeat horns (featuring Ronnie Buttacavoli on trumpet), a wordy tale about a drunken night he can't remember with this girl he can't forget (the one who posted his bail, as it were). Luckily, our hero gets a second chance and the rest is proverbial history, captured in winsome radio-ready pop. Both new tunes are classic FOW fare, and if this is the latest, it also speaks well of their next studio album.

Disc One continues with the nonsensical "California Sex Lawyer,"a song formerly only available on an older IPO compilation. It's about an over proud man who has it all, including "a license to love and a German shepherd named Dove." His lyrical boasting exhorts that it's not fair, but he doesn't care.

"Janice's Party" is an endearing organ-accented winner (a bonus track from 1997's single of "Radiation Vibe"). It's the obvious tale of said annual party, where "smoking is permitted inside." In typical FOW fashion, lyrics involve drunken observations.

Another track from that same time, "Karpet King" was one of the live staples from early tours when there was a dearth of ready material at hand. It's the musical story of a man who "looks like he's wearing a cheap disguise but it's real." As usual, FOW captures the sincerity of the moment for this working Joe who still has dreams, yet is stuck "laying it down,"

A more recent track, "Baby I've Changed" has a nice bouncing bass line (and the guitar solos have improved progressively over the years). It's about a contrite man who, having once stepped over the line, now claims to have changed his wicked ways. Promises like this are laid bare: "I'll let you listen to Sugar Ray and I'll say I love you every day because it's true."

One of my favorites here dates from the Utopia Parkway era, a pleasant harmony-laced love song entitled "I Know You Well." The lyrics reflect the couple's simpatico in a way that only FOW can manage: "and as you and me grow old I hope we'll live to tell /how you know I know you knew I know you well."

"You're Just Never Satisfied" is an old demo from 1999, a serviceable mid-tempo rocker that the boys were too lazy to record properly. There's a true home demo feel to "I Want You Around," a pleasant encouragement of a love song that Chris admits never got finished.

"I'll Do The Driving" is a song of quiet apprehension, dissecting a tenuous relationship with critical barbs hurled at a television-obsessed woman who annoys him, knowing nothing at all about nothing (e.g., she thinks Johnny Cash is the man in red). Collingwood and Schlessinger do dissension well.

A short gem of a song is the sweetly charming "Places," written by Collingwood for his wife while tour-weary and longing for home while staying in London.

"Nightlight" (1999) is a good example of how anything and everything serves as possible fodder for musical treatment with FOW. Here, the simple lyrics get couched in exotic world sounds, including sitars and tablas.

The first of several covers here is "Trains and Boats and Planes," the Bacharach/David classic once made popular by Dionne Warwick. FOW give it more of a folky feel, allowing for a different appreciation of the song. The first disc also includes a spirited live performance of Electric Light Orchestra's "Can't Get It Out Of My Head" (recorded at the Jacksonville Coliseum in 1997).

Disc Two includes FOW's most popular unreleased track, their take on the oft-covered Max Martin uber-hit "…Baby One More Time." It's a very different version than that of Britney's, more stark and rawly emotional, selling the loneliness expressed in the lyrics far better, I think. Though it's not their most polished recording, the strength and beauty of this pop song becomes readily apparent.

"Elevator Up" is a raw kind of song about drugs, that features some nice buzzing guitar, fine horn arrangements and the type of polish that distinguishes it as a more recent track (a bonus from the single "Stacy's Mom").

While disc one examined a man in the carpet trade, disc two offers a musical portrait of a female stand-up who knows there are times when things don't go all that smoothly, and that it's a thin line between "killing" and "dying." While "Comedienne" delivers typically astute insight into this plight, the song itself sounds a little rough around the edges. In other words, it's good but not good enough to have made the studio release. .

Contrast that with "Kid Gloves," an older tune released as a bonus track that same year. This beautiful song should most definitely have made an official studio release, but probably got shelved merely because it pre-dated songs written for that first album.

FOW show their country flavors in an unlikely cover of the Gene Pitney/Aaron Schroeder chestnut "Today's Teardrops," made famous by Ricky Nelson. It's not a bad cover, and serves as testament to the band's impressive genre diversity.

Additional covers included here include Chris Collingwood serving up a bare-bones home-studio acoustic performance of Jackson Browne's "These Days" and a more-realized studio version of Roddy Frame's Aztec Camera classic "Killermont Street." Both of these are great songs (and kudos to Collingwood for bringing them to the attention of younger folks who might not be familiar with the originals).

The second live performance track is a live version of "She's Got A Problem," the compelling tale of concern for a woman on the verge of suicide. This was recorded at the U.K.'s Reading Festival in August 1997.

Disc two offers a trilogy of winter holiday songs. Originally recorded as a demo for Hanson (who didn't use it), the nonsensical "I Want An Alien For Christmas" provides much upbeat holiday cheer in its alternative gift suggestions. "The Man In The Santa Suit" offers a poignant FOW portrait of an impatient man playing jolly Saint Nick for the needed money: "it's hard to be merry when the guys at the bar say he looks like a fairy, but he's doing it just for the loot, the man in the santa suit." "Chanukah Under The Stars" is a few seconds' worth of lounge-lizard equal time.

"Half A Woman" is a bit rough, a sort of throwaway song recorded at the studio between takes of another song. Yet the magic here is in the lyrics, telling the story of a magician's assistant who yearns for more and eventually makes her escape.

"Small Favors" is another early tune (circa 1994), in which the narrator isn't quite ready to let of a relationship that has ended. "Imperia" is a short but noble tribute of a song written about Collingwood's grandfather, a former RAF pilot in World War II. It shows well how Fountains of Wayne can capture so much in fewer than two minutes worth of song.

While not as solid as any of FOW's previous studio releases, *Out of State Plates* still has much to recommend it (most notably the two new songs). Schlesinger and Collingwood are great at what they do, and this ample collection serves well as a sort of historical perspective on the career-to-date, placing lesser known and rougher hewn tracks (some of which are very winning) alongside live performances and a diversity of covers.

The bonus is the more you play these songs, the more you'll like them - they don't lack for character and talent, and even Collingwood and Schlesinger's most modest demo efforts prove better than much of what others can manage in their most polished productions. Fountains of Wayne write wonderful hook-filled melodies and people them with compelling portraits and wry, intelligent lyrics. As such, they take both pride and time in honing their unique craft. Considering that we've only had three albums since 1996's debut, *Out Of State Plates" is a veritable bounty of enjoyable material to keep us sated until the next proper studio release.

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The Heavenly States
Black Comet

(Baria Records)

Release Date: July 12, 2005

www.theheavenlystates.com

It's not very often that melodic pop intertwines with political anger and intelligent diatribe. That's why The Heavenly States and their unique brand of danceable rage seem so darn refreshing, being a truly independent alternative in a music world oft populated by soundalikes with placid demeanors. I'd wager the musical angst that comprises Black Comet might prove too extreme for some faint-hearted listeners. Others, like myself, will find much to admire in its genuine anger set against pleasing melodies. Forgive the pun, but The Black Comet is indeed all the rage.

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Ted Nesseth has changed gears a bit for this new release. Gone are the grand sonic landscapes that peppered parts of the band's self-titled debut. In their stead are a bunch of songs in which Nesseth spouts an abundance of lyrics, often shouting instead of singing, sounding like he's racing against time and danger to get the thoughts expressed.
There's genuine passion behind it - and the resulting songs are entertaining and eclectic.

The CD opens with "Look And Listen," a wild sensory trip that urges freaking out and seeking out, discussing stretched time down at the river of blood. There's even a middle bridge that bears some resemblance to The Beatles' "I've Got A Feeling": "Everybody wants a red light / Everybody sees the next time / Everybody hears the same thing / Everybody buys a new life." Genevieve Gagon's synthesizers and violin work and brother Jeremy's drumming make the music both hard-driving and melodically dramatic.

"Pretty Life" comes across with a feeling of tense desperation, quiet music pierced by Nesseth's urgent vocals, creating a compelling contrast. It begins "this is the best, the best of the blessed, it didn't test the camera" and continues on to a chorus with retro-organ notes that declares "it's a pretty life, 'til you're smashing the rock into roll." Nesseth spews cryptic lines that question lovers and beauty, measuring life pleasure to pleasure and ultimately smashing that rock quite effectively. It's a sound that's hard to describe.

The title track leads off with some fine drumming and violin, presenting a strange sort of jazz-punk hoedown. Nesseth drives another song with frantic vocals that convey pointed political commentary of an imperialistic regime: "Pistol whipped to the beat of a drum / haul you off to prison when the communists come / No case investigation by the chosen one / the people reunited under government gun."

Genevieve's violin accents are a highlight of "Borderline," while Nesseth's guitar punctuates the rhythm in another observational song about time and life. Here The Heavenly States create a fascinating lush musical atmosphere that overshadows the words.

"Song In F" is a more somber affair, a sort of pleasantly meandering tune with piano chords accenting lyrics that are sort of prose poems that defy easy interpretation: "Waving to the neighbors, that's enough / saving all the papers, you care too much for them / Could you ever love them if their eyes were full of empty / tortured and replaceable delighted and sure of nothing." While it might not all make sense, it sounds important and is couched in sweet backing music.

My favorite song here is "Elastic Days," wherein the musical violin riff (a cousin of Prince's "Raspberry Beret") is mighty infectious. The tune itself wins you over immediately, and then Nesseth serves up a sharp contrast with his ranting-almost sung lyrics - what seems like enough words for five songs - yet somehow he manages to get them all in. The music is beautiful (particularly the divine strings of the middle bridge), the lyrics somewhat elusive: "Wow! I heard your body moan / You don't want to be alone / But your mind is like a plant of stone that never seems to grow / Destroy the things you know / Just snap and let it go / Elastic days of this life."

Nesseth is left-handed, and plays his guitar upside-down. As a result, he gets a sound that's different, almost percussive at times. This is well displayed within the complex stutter rhythms of "Racetrack." The trio is a tight musical entity, and their playing fuses into a powerful crescendo here.

Another moody, pensive musical piece is "Light Dressed Storm," which builds slowly into a sort of surrealist love song, observing a couple dancing in a storm. "Pale" on the other hand, offers a chorus of cursing blatant defiance against "giving you anymore" in what sounds to be a troubled relationship.

"Vacant" is another eclectic and powerful accomplishment of a song, a mixture of several upbeat and urgent rhythms wedded to grand observations about the anywhere that's a vacant everywhere: "their life, their love, their push to shove / life love push shove."

"A Revolution Away" is mostly a pleasing musical refrain that whiles away two minutes or so. Perhaps the most thoughtful song here, "The Witness," closes the CD. It's a song that espouses compromise as a way of life for this new generation of existential miscreants, and Nesseth puts it succinctly thus: "It's best to not expect the best / That's the best you can do."

The Heavenly States are a talented trio that somehow mix rock, pop and dissent into infectious songs of eclectic social and political commentary. Their unique indie sound deserves a far wider audience, but anything that's somewhat different is bound to catch on slowly at best. For Black Comet, they have increased the anger quotient while maintaining the tuneful surprises, putting out another collection that screams to be heard - only in this case, more literally.

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Fran Smith Jr. and The Ten Cent Millionaires
Man Meets Machine

(Self-Produced)

Release Date: April 5, 2005

www.fransmithjr.com

Talented musician and actor Fran Smith Jr. understands well how those in supporting roles often get overlooked. As bass player and supporting vocalist for Philadelphia's The Hooters since 1987, Smith has been touring all over the world, playing that band's Billboard Top 40 hits. Yet while all of those hits were written by Eric Bazilian, Rob Hyman and/or Rick Chertoff, Fran Smith Jr. is quite an adept songwriter as well.

His new solo CD Man Meets Machine showcases that ability, throwing the dutiful supporting player into the pop spotlight. He meets that challenge well - with ample aural proof that Fran Smith Jr. knows how to write the kind of melodic pop that used to dominate popular radio years ago. With over twenty-five years in and around the music industry, Smith obviously knows his stuff.

Assembling a supporting cast of musician friends (among them Glenn Burtnick, Steve Butler, Pinky Giglio, Joey Maressa Jr and fellow Hooters Bazilian and Hyman), Smith captures elements of past sounds and transforms them into sweetly melodic new creations infused with infectious charm. The polished sounds reflect the innocence of a bygone day, replete with hooks galore.

The title track leads off the proceedings in a pleasant way, with 1980s-style synth accents, abundant cowbell, and plenty of guitar and harmonies fusing into a song about contemplating a future where "daytime, nighttime, man meets machine, finding new ways to love / they're doing their best with metal and flesh, 'til man meets machine."

Don McLean had his musical homage to Van Gogh way back when, so considering the popularity of The DaVinci Code, you'd think someone might seek to fill that musical gap. Relax - Fran Smith Jr. not only has a song called "Leonardo," but you'd be hard pressed to find another song so catchy. This McCartney-esque tribute to the great master ("his eyes see the light of a world that's in flight") features lovely guitar and bass lines, and the kind of sweet vocals and harmonies that will stick in your head the whole summer long.

There's one song here that could be a hit for The Hooters. Not surprisingly, it's the one Smith has co-written with Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian (who join in playing it). "That's The Way I Will Remember" has got the knack of sounding familiar even on first listen, a close cousin to the string of hit songs the band had years ago. It's a song of fond reminisce about a woman gone but not forgotten: "You know there's always something there to remind me / And I will carry you everywhere deep inside me / You found a chink in my armor / You dug a hole in my heart / You're such a beautiful charmer / you left a permanent mark."

"ShutDownLand" espouses a carefree lifestyle, running from commitment and criticism into a world of endless parties and good times. "Rudy" is chock full of ringing guitars and rich wall-to-wall sound, think arena rock anthem in the lyrical service of getting someone to unlock the door. The upbeat "Uniforms" relates the tale of a woman obsessed with a passion for men in uniform.

At times, Smith has joined the cast members of Beatlemania as Paul McCartney. Thus, his very brief piano ballad "Redberry Shangrala" comes as no surprise. This song, while just over a minute's worth of music, is pure tuneful McCartney (or an incredible simulation thereof).

"Waiting In The Rain" paints a dramatic scenario, our hero finds himself touring through a foreign country searching and waiting for a relative stranger who has become the object of his love. Again, this is a very full arrangement, the drama of the music more than matching that of the lyrics.

"Love and Exploration" again seems like a lost hit single from the early 1980s. Steve Butler displays slick guitar virtuosity throughout this song that exhorts the combination of love and exploration, from Christopher Columbus to Robinson Crusoe and beyond.

"Nothing In Return" tunefully laments that speaking your mind often yields poor results; "Committed" is an excellent variant on a standard blues number with early Beatle influences, all about the difficulties of domestic commitment.. "Hide A Place" is a mid-tempo ballad that sounds very mid-1980s (it was co-written with drummer Joey Maressa).

While Smith's lyrics are adequate for his melodic pop means, they don't seem overly ambitious. The one exception is the very humorous, pseudo-British "The Aggravation Song," in which a father tries to explain to his son how marriage simply amounts to aggravation. Smith has fun with nonsensical proclamations like this: "The highest form of ganglious, a modicum of jubilous, sanctity and brevity of puritanical bliss / It's not the action but the prowess / a chronological entity / a vat of forty ouncers and the purpose of derange."

"Dots" is another pleasant Beatle-esque cut of highly melodic, guitar-driven pop, which Smith seems to reel off with relative ease. The CD closes with a minute's worth of demented supermarket announcements, further proof that Smith has a sense of humor.

Much in the style of The Vinyl Kings and other projects of veteran musicians, *Man Meets Machine* reminds us that well-written melodic pop still exists. The rich arrangements, harmonies and guitar lines combine for a most enjoyable listening experience. Fran Smith Jr. proves that he deserves the spotlight by creating song after song of catchy guitar-driven music that comes and goes in three minutes, but stays in your head for months. If you're a fan of melodic pop, *Man Meets Machine* needs to be your fun musical soundtrack for the summer of 2005.

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The Afternoons
Rocket Summer

(Saturday Records)

Release Date: June 6, 2005

www.theafternoons.com

There's always a need for mellow pop, particularly in the summer. It provides a musical place of comfort in which one can get lost and float away on inner thoughts and distant dreams. Those seeking such a place should give a long listen to Rocket Summer, the delightful new collection from The Afternoons.

This moog-splashed twee pop provides a confectioner's dose of dreamy sweetness, courtesy of Richard Griffiths (vocals, guitar), Pete Morgan (drums, percussion), Sarah Rapi (bass, vocals), Paul Rapi (keys, vocals), Andrew Walters (violin, viola), and Jason Huxely (lead guitar).

The band was formed in 1999 when five friends from Cardiff, Wales were united by a common love of David Bowie and curry. The Bowie influence isn't very noticeable on this current release. Rather, the dreamy hook-filled pop suggests links to bands like Belle and Sebastian, The Lucksmiths, The Shins, Teenage Fanclub, The Trashcan Sinatras, The Housemartins and others.

The pleasant opening title track lulls you into a sort of happy mid-tempo stupor while en route to Mars, a lyrical fantasy wherein you don't get old and your skin looks good in the sun (sign me up for that voyage).

Happy synth-notes introduce "Baby, You Know The Deal," but the lyrics are darker than the music would indicate, addressing times when one feels down. "Let's Fall Apart" is a congenial ballad about trying to begin again in a relationship where things haven't been going all that well: "Love left you numb / made you stare at the rain / Let's fall apart, take it back to the start again." Paul Rapi's accent notes on the synthesizer are just right here.

While it might be too slow a song for some people, the stark acoustic beauty of "Fading Fast" works well for me. This bittersweet examination of the transcendence of existence, night to day, season to season, is marvelously accented with Andrew Walters' strings.

"Coast Road" is a summer song about driving toward a future and never looking back (with extra points for name-checking The Velvets).

Infectious moog accents and joyous handclaps make "You'll Never Know" a likely candidate for a single. The upbeat happiness of the melody works well against the confessional lyrics: "I didn't throw your clothes across the lawn / I didn't stay up drunk 'til dawn / I didn't grow a beard to my feet / I didn't lose the will to eat / But you'll never know that it didn't hurt so bad / You'll never know that I got over you." Richard Griffiths has a real gift for writing catchy songs that strike genuine emotional notes.

"Never Tell Anybody Anything" is surprisingly up-tempo, recalling all sorts of new wave music from years past (Aha, anyone?) while expressing concern about a young person's family problems.

"Looking For A Reason" is a less successful ballad, coming off as a little whiney, a lovelorn guy constantly reminded of his love, looking for a reason to live without her (sometimes pop hyperbole backfires).

"Tides" continues the successions of slow ballads. It's more lovelorn reminisce, but done a bit more cleverly with lyrics like this: "The photograph I never took is kept next to my heart / The one you'll never get to see / It shows you walking on the sand / Laughing in the twilight / but it was never meant to be." Here the sensitive musings come across as genuine.

"You Are" is the only piano ballad, a happy and dramatic love song (at last). It's always nice to know that some love scenarios do work out: "You are the compass that tells me where I'm going / When there is no way of knowing / You are the girl who stopped me from shaking / when my heart was tired of breaking / And you let me live my life." Richard Griffiths' vocals are superb here (in an almost "Long And Winding Road" mode), couched in a lush wall of great production.

One of the things I like about this CD is how the songs are arranged chronologically. The record starts at the beginning of summer and progresses into the fall. One of my favorites here is "In Flames," a relatively unadorned yet poignant song for the end of summer. Pete Morgan does a nice job with the drumming, as Mr. Griffiths relates the changes that are ensuing: "Now it's over / taste it in her kiss / Bittersweet where there once was only bliss / Once her eyes were full of things that shone / But tomorrow they will all be gone."

The CD closes with another beautiful and slightly sad song, "Canada Geese." It's September now - the summer and its memories are fading fast -- and the geese in flight mark an end to things (and also the end of the album): "Tall September shadows fall and it grows dark / You chase the scattered leaves that skate across the park / The trail of geese has disappeared into the blue / Now every time I see them I will think of you."

These twelve songs of sweet mellow pop are a lovely and dreamy travelogue to take you through a magical Rocket Summer. The Afternoons are a very easy listen due to the mellifluous vocals of Griffiths and Sarah Rapi. Griffiths (alone and with Peter Morgan) writes savvy and often-beautiful songs that are introspective, reflective and sensitive, yet manage to avoid overwrought clichés. Fans of this sort of dreamy twee music should get a copy of Rocket Summer quickly, allowing plenty of time yet to enjoy the seasonal music on the beach or as backdrop to a long romantic coastal drive.

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Cyclones
Walk Fast…Head Down

(Jam Records)

Release Date: January 1, 2005

www.cyclonesband.com

These days power pop often comes with a shortage of power - thankfully, that's not the case here. This 24-minute mini-CD contains eight songs that rock in a very direct fashion, heralding an auspicious debut for a new guitar-driven band out of Illinois.

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Steve Gatland is the creative force behind Cyclones. He is joined by various musicians on several tracks (B. Fritzsche, T. Wiznewski, J. Fellers, B. Veazey, S. Gorsuch and A. Kempa), executing songs that feature crunchy guitars, straight-ahead vocals, solid drums and genial harmonies with an admirable precision.

While this hard-driving guitar-laden rock doesn't re-invent the wheel, it does a nice job of being both energetic and memorable, exuding confident sounds from the first note.

The opener "On My Mind" is a confession of thoughts beyond a relationship's end (he set her free, apparently), surrounded by guitars and harmonies. Gatland shows his sense of humor with tuneful "What They Say About You," wherein a guy has to deal with the fact that his new lover has had 42 others before him ("now I understand all the looks I get when I walk downtown with you"). The song opens with a wall of guitars and opens up from there.

"2nd Best" is a lament of waiting for a wanted lover's decision from a guy who seems always to be second best. It's another infectious rocker that effectively conveys post-adolescent angst in matters of the heart.

Similarly, "Heart of Stone" touches upon a man undone by the loss of a heartless woman who is leaving: "Did you leave me heart of stone / did you leave me all alone / I will never let myself fall this far again."

"Teacher" is a musical admission that the class needs this particular instructor, who unfortunately is crying, turning and walking away, having failed to get the kids' test marks up to acceptable state standards (and will face dismissal as a result). It's not exactly a direct censure of the flawed federal "No Child Left Behind" policy, but probably as close as a rock song might get.

"Listen Hard To Hear" is a musical admission of apathy, a direct result of a distinct failure to communicate. This line sums it up nicely: "Stand by myself while you think of yourself."

People laboring in jobs or relationships that they despise will find much to like in the song "13 Days." Here, the singer wants to steal away, find a place to hide and start over: "I don't want to live this way / Living like hell is getting pretty old / What would they do, what would they say / If I just walked out today / Bide my time, watch them all adhere / I'll be gone, it's almost time to go / 13 days 'til someday."

The CD closes with "Believer Deceiver," a pleasant jangle-pop song sung from the perspective of an insincere pretender who only cares about getting to the top in any way possible.

Walk Fast…Head Down is a polished, passionate and powerful debut from these rocking power poppers, a brief sampler that leaves the listener wanting more.

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