Sherman et al:

I review True Love's new one in next month's Fufkin.   Also, for those who 
favor sounds along the lines of New Pornographers, I haven't seen mention 
made yet of The Heavenly States self-titled debut.  Do check it out - a 
real sleeper here, and liable to make it onto many top 20s at year's end, 
given the chance.

Best,

Gary Glauber


At 05:27 AM 9/3/2003 +0000, you wrote:
>I was hoping to find some time to detail why I like the new album "I Was
>Accident" by True Love on Not Lame Records so much. Drew, Andrea and Bob
>Hutton also gave the thumbs up, but you probably were asking what's special
>about the CD that caused four auditeers to write about it.
>
>I'm a big fan of vocal harmonies and good melodies, and "I was Accident" has
>these ingredients. The band has three lead singers, and at gigs they take
>their turns singing. I like Ray Kubian's voice the best, it's the most
>colorful. But live he has the job of playing drums, his lead vocals sound
>stronger on the CD than on stage. The bassist Keith Hartel writes the most
>interesting songs, I loved "Under the Rainbow" on the first album. And The
>Squirrel plays a mean lead guitar.
>
>The CD's highlights include "Mr. Sad" with harmonies reminiscent of CSN and a
>classic guitar break and Hartel's "Now", a song of the type that would be a
>hit in any decade but possibly this one. The kind of melody that could have
>streamed out of the radio in the fifties, really. But the Squirrel's modern
>guitar brands this as a 2003 production - listen to another fast guitar solo
>in the break and especiallly the guitar crash framing the words "motion"
>and "devotion". What is Keith singing about? I think he picks words with long
>vowels, choosing them just for their sound, without too much worry about
>their meaning.
>
>Also, The Squirrel's "The Genius" with a catchy "bop-bop-bop" vocal line in
>the background,  Ray's "Ilovegirlswholoverockandroll" which uses wind
>chimes,  bird calls and surf sounds as lead rhythmic instruments and the hard
>rocking "Heartache to Come" which will startle you out of the hypnotic
>rapture of "Ilovegirls".
>
>The soulful "Don't Mean Anything" may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's
>followed by the most amazing "Throwing Back the Ring" with it's mournful
>three part chorus "Oh my God, all of the shit that's going on ... is there
>anything left at all?" which in my mind is about 9/11 even though it's really
>about a broken engagement. Richard Lloyd plays lead guitar on this track, a
>return favor for his live band.
>
>"Radio On" briefly quotes Sloan's "Sugartune" and joins the ranks of the many
>self-referential songs about the joys of music, with a Bartlett's treasury of
>bon mot's including the Audities lament "I'm twenty years late to ever be
>great." The ingeniously arranged "Service of the Knife" comes next, to be
>followed by "Riot Helmet", which many have heard already, since it's the
>second cut of the latest IPO anthology. And to show that True Love can leave
>their minds outside the studio and crank up the distorted rock there's the
>finale - "Time Dog".
>
>Gee, I listed every song as a highlight. My bad.
>
>See ya,
>Sherman