Anthemic Pop Wonder - Rapid Pop Thrills (Bombco)
This album sounds like a fourth-generation copy of a cassette that had been buried in the backseat of someone's Dodge Omni under a pile of McDonald's bags and schoolbooks. Luckily, they credit Jimmy Ether for mixing and mastering, so at least you know who to avoid. It's rare in these days of ProTools to hear something recorded this badly. It's so rare that it's interesting, even charming. Anthemic Pop Wonder's catchy little rock songs immediately brought me back down to Andy Sheneman's basement where I watched my friends' band record a handful of songs into their newly purchased four-track. Hearing the playback was an exciting experience, and that same exuberance is all over the place on Rapid Pop Thrills. Which raises the question, would the songs sound as good and would I even have made it past the first track if they were recorded properly? I don't know, but I do know that you just can't go wrong with a song titled "How Great Was Hüsker Dü!"
MP3s available via mp3.com.
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Yep - Jake's (mostly) right. Catchy rockin' punkpop songs recorded with fun and exuberance on an old 4-track.
It's the old Pollard ethic - record with what you can when you can - catch the songs as they come!
The fun is on the disc - so what that it doesn't sound like the new Gabriel CD - punk rock wasn't meant to be hi-fi.
Don't blame Jimmy Ether though - you should've heard what my tapes sounded like BEFORE he did some work! ;-)
You guys rock,
Dfactor
APW
NYC
As soon as I get a chance, I'm buying this album along with Cody Chesnutt's The Headphone Masterpiece, the other recent and relatively unknown lo-fi album that has managed to strike a chord and intrigue me. Keep up the good work, guys!
Fran