The Knoxville quintet follows up 2002’s All Things Small Produce A Spark with a handful of studio-nurtured ditties that pop-pop-pop!
In case your mood’s not elevated instantly by perky guitars or Ben Folds Five-style vocal melodies, the group throws in sleigh bells and hand-claps for good measure.
Elsewhere, faux-80s chart-rock (“Sea of Chrome”) is kicked to the margins by mid-90s power-pop (“Chicks In Time Machines”), to mixed results. The instrumental bridges, all carefully written, indicate the group’s hiding some clever tricks up its sleeve.
Few, however, can steal the spotlight from the occasionally canned, radio-hungry “hits.” – Punk Planet, September/October 2006
