MANDREW - "The Wonderful World Of..." (Treefrog)

Este es el segundo trabajo de la banda de Mike Andrew "de ahí el nombre-,
cuarteto de Saint Paul, Minnesota dedicado al noble arte de componer
bonita canción melódica. Lo suyo parte de ese concepto pop contundente que
pudiera quedar más o menos definido si trazáramos una hipotética línea que
uniera a Lennon con Matthew Sweet, pasando por los Raspberries. Todo
dulcificado por cierta querencia "afortunadamente no muy acusada- hacia el
indie pop británico de guitarras y el estilo más contemporáneo de gente
como Brad Jones, Jon Brion o Michael Penn. Suenan a algo así. Bien, por
supuesto, y además son capaces de componer ese tipo de pieza que cuando da
en la diana eclipsa automáticamente a todo lo demás, se convierte en
clásico instantáneo y medicina infalible para todo momento y lugar. Aquí
es "Cocktail Tree", pero lo cierto es que rascando un poco la superficie,
hay mucho más que encontrar y disfrutar. Un muy buen disco, fácil de
escuchar y que acaba pegado cual lapa a tu subconsciente. Como debe ser.
Otra ronda de power-pop de empaque, en un momento en el que no andamos
â€"echa cuentas: Evans, Estepa, Derby, Supraluxe...- precisamente cortos de
material de primer nivel dentro del negociado. EDUARDO RANEDO.

Mandrew
The Wonderful World of Mandrew
[Treefrog records 2007]

Il "fantastico mondo" di Mandrew nasconde le sembianze di una copia di fratelli del Minnesotta, il titolare della ditta Mike (voce, chitarre, principale autore) e il fratello Patrick (basso), dalla fine degli anni ottanta sempre a rincorrersi con esperienze parallele, band in comune e tante miglia spese on the road in rock'n'roll band dalla vita travagliata. Patrick sembra avere ottenuto sino ad oggi il raccolto migliore con i sei dischi a nome PFR (Pray for Rain), formazione minore ma di un certo successo nazionale a partire dalla prima metà degli anni novanta. Oggi è la volta di Mike, che da tecnico e stage manager per il fratello ha deciso di farsi largo, passando a condurre le danze con la creatura Mandrew. Chiamati a raccolta alcuni interessanti nomi della scena rock di Minneapolis, tra i quali Pete Sands alle tastiere, James Everest alle chitarre, Ryan Lovan e Brock Caldwell alla batteria, tutti onesti gregari del circuito indipendente cittadino, The Wonderful World of Mandrew si è trasformato in un atto di devozione verso il linguaggo power pop, le armonie irresistibili del beat sixties e quel modo sbarazzino e frizzante di approcciare il rock'n'roll, tenendo un piede nelle chitarre elettriche più chiassose e l'altro nella ricerca della melodia più accattivante. Un disco solare quanto i colori della sua copertina, di facile presa e peraltro di inattaccabile competenza fra i generi indagati: leggero come la brezza di I Can't Write e del suo organetto demodè, luminoso al pari delle deliziose cantilene pop Expanding the Collection, Cocktail Tree e Princess on the Porch, scomposto e fracassone quanto le chitarre di Burning e Your Turn. Undici canzoni, trentadue minuti, fedele anche nella durata ad un immaginario retrò, che prevede la solita trafila di citazionismi: la cartella stampa ci invita al parallelo con Beach Boys, Beatles (ed effettivamente quegli innocenti la-la piazzati in Hotwax ne sono una prova) e magari, giusto per rendere la cosa più elitaria, anche con Zombies e Badfinger. Troppo facile e per giunta ingeneroso nei confronti del progetto Mandrew, il quale resta senza dubbio un generoso omaggio alla lezione di tali mostri sacri, ma essendo i suoi principali attori cresciuti in altra epoca, non è difficile pensare che la loro principale fonte di ispirazione sia stata quell'alternative rock che infestava benignamente le college radio nei primi anni novanta. E allora è facile ritornare ai Velvet Crush, ai Posies, a Matthew Sweet ad un revival power pop che si rinnova ciclicamente. I Mandrew sono arrivati un po' in ritardo, non c'è dubbio, ma è difficile disfarsi delle loro canzoni senza lodarne quanto meno la preparazione e l'autorità in materia.
(Fabio Cerbone)

MANDREW
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF MANDREW
TREEFROG

From the upper, midwestern U.S. comes the second effort from Mandrew, the work of Mike Andrew and company, including brother and recording collaborator Patrick. This wonder-full world teems with both the protoplasmic artwork adorning the cover and the quirked-out tales of vacuum salesmen and falling fruit, all being inflected with a sunny pop-rock sensibility. After a distorted intro on opener "Burning," Andrew sounds decidedly Lennon-esque before things enter guitar-shredding territory later in the track. The album's second song is the one to catch, about the aforementioned salesman, and is the most story-driven selection of the bunch. "I Can't Write" is full of sunny pop-rock, full of organ-voiced keyboard and a real Beach Boys, 1960s-rock feel to it. "Cocktail Tree" is solid and talks of falling far (or not very far) from the tree, "Good Days" is another light, buoyant number with a nice guitar riff, and "Note to Self," the last track, is effects-heavy and has an electro-rock, fairly jittery vibe going. One is sure to be enthused by this collection of short yet satisfying pop dispatches from the wonderful world of Mandrew.

--Andrew Palmacci

Mandrew: "Hotwax"

carwash pop (n): Music generally played in anticipation of, during, or in the aftermath of a carwash, or: music that inhibits, encourages, or otherwise expedites the situational arousal of a carwash, or: music that opens an individual's awareness of vehicular dirtiness thereby sparking thought of or action towards getting a carwash.

This following song from Michael Andrew (a.k.a. Mandrew), taken from his debut album The Wonderful World Of Mandrew, has it in spades, from its laid-back 90's alt/pop sound (like Smash Mouth, only it doesn't make you want to kill yourself) to the freaking name of the song. It's fun, summery, and above all else makes me look unapprovingly at my white 1992 Volvo 240 Wagon. Not even this song combined with the greatest carwash in the world could clean the stains of that behemoth.

connor

http://iguessimfloating.blogspot.com/

Mandrew – The Wonderful World Of… - Treefrog Records

Mandrew is een ouderwets lekker Amerikaans popbandje uit Minneapolis dat zijn inspiratie vooral uit de jaren zestig lijkt te halen. Denk aan een combinatie van Beach Boys, Beatles en Curt Boettcher, door elkaar gemixt met een grondige kennis van punk- en garagebandjes en steviger gitaarrock van later. Lekkere liedjes, mooie powerpoparrangementen, heerlijke meerstemmige zang. Aanstekelijke muziek. Toch klinken ze niet gedateerd, maar meer als een alt-countryband die met één been in de sixties is blijven staan. Een heerlijk plaatje, dames en heren! Een welkome zomerbries in deze kille dagen.


http://www.moorsmagazine.com/muziekbak/recensieoverzichtwinter20067.html

Mandrew - The Wonderful World of
by David Brusie

When the first notes of first track "Burning" come through the speakers, you're expecting a subdued affair. Then, Mandrew - nom de rock of St. Paul's Mike Andrew - suddenly turns up the volume, and chaos briefly reigns. All is not what it seems.

Which is not to say that Mandrew doesn't do subtle - "Expanding The Collection" is an especially sweet, Teenage Fanclub-like pop song - it's just that he knows exactly when to throw a curveball.

Sometimes the curveball is subtle, as in "Your Turn," which on the surface seems like a standard-issue pop number, but is filled with enough distortion and pathos to throw you off guard.

More often than not, however, the curveball starts right away, as in "Hot Wax," which at first glance sounds like a dark rhumba, and quickly becomes pop utopia, complete with handclaps and a ready-made melody.

The word "pop" has now appeared three times in this review (okay, now four), but it's unavoidable. There's no other word for "The Wonderful World of Mandrew," and that's a very good thing. Though Andrew knows his way around a studio, he keeps the songs simple and solid, throwing the occasional dressing on top for texture.

By the time you reach the end of "The Wonderful World of Mandrew," you'll feel like you need another listen, which is the record's greatest feature. "Leave 'em wanting more," goes the saying, and since this disc's best qualities are subtle, you'll need a few spins. This is a good thing.

Mandrew - The Wonderful World Of

You'd have thought by now that folks would have realised that there is very little capital to be made in the world of power-pop. Yes, Badfinger and the Raspberries managed a hit or two back in the day, but since then it seems the only way to sneak a wee bit of success is to parlay your melodic power-pop stylings through a filter of ex Mrs Rod Stewarts poledancing and teenage masturbation into a few months of MTV success.

Which is why the Fountains Of Wayne had a hit and Redd Kross didn't. Of course you could do the sensible thing and marry a middle ranking pop princess prior to releasing your debut album, thus guaranteeing a few news rag gossip column inches. And then you would be The Feeling. But good songs don't really seem to cut it by themselves. So Mandrew are going to have to come up with something more than releasing a good album. Perhaps getting a middle ranking pop princess to pole dance? I'm happy to supervise should that be the option Mike Andrew (for 'tis he) decided to go for.

But if not I shall try and console myself with an array of good tunes (and 'Your Turn' which I hate). It won't make up for the lack of self pleasuring opportunities but 'Burning', the acid jazzy 'Hot Wax' and 'Princess On The Porch' - video alert! - a poledancing princess on a porch watched by an ageing bewhiskered quais-journo sitting in a rocking chair. Hmmm. Oh, sorry, yes, this is really good. But I'm off to build a porch and practice some Sophie Ellis-Bextor related leches in time to the music. Good work, fellas.

Stuart A Hamilton

http://www.zeitgeist-scot.co.uk/

Flash crítica MANDREW "The wonderful world of..." (2007)

Tranquilos todos aquellos a los que el (ligero) pinchazo del último trabajo de James Mercer y los suyos les haya provocado alguna que otra dolencia cardiaca. El bálsamo lo encontrarán con el debut en largo de este quinteto de Saint Paul titulado de manera acertadísima "The wonderful world of Mandrew", y es que el debut de este combo liderado por Mike Andrew viene con desfibrilador y marcapasos incorporado (por si la patología ha sido más severa de lo normal) y nos propone un pop dulcemente psicodélico con pespuntes "power" que hará las delicias tanto de los aficionados al sonido del colectivo Elephant 6, como a los afiliados al pop de guitarras con melodías pluscuamperfectas.

Para hacernos una idea, es como si los Fountains of Wayne del "Foutains of Wayne" hubieran nacido en San Francisco o Los Angeles en lugar de hacerlo en Nueva York. La comparación no es baladí, ya que la voz de Andrew tiene una semejanza más allá de lo razonable con la de Chris Collingwood, también en el sonido de guitarras y el poso compositivo recuerda al de los primeros discos de "Las Fuentes", de hecho así es como a un servidor le gustaría que sonara el que será su cuarto disco de estudio y que se publica precisamente hoy en EE.UU.

Estos jovenzuelos se han empapado bien de las enseñanzas pretéritas de "Las cuatro B's" y nos ofrecen once luminosísimas y frescas composiciones de pop atemporal en las que los arreglos de cuerda, teclados, palmas y los celestiales coros (tanto femeninos como masculinos) realzan el conjunto de una obra mayor dentro del pop facturado en el país de las barras y estrellas. Vamos que como decía al principio, es un disco para fans de The Shins sí, pero también para seguidores de Guided by Voices, Jason Falkner, Badfinger, Teenage Fanclub, los Olivia Tremor Control menos psych y más pop o los citados FOW, con una pátina de clasicismo/modernidad que les hace irresistibles.

Y es ciertamente curioso -y por desgracia ya hasta algo habitual- que no tengan distribución oficial ni sello discográfico que les ampare (nos estaremos volviendo todos locos), al igual que pasa con Oh No! Oh My! o The Zebras, la única manera de hacerse con este disco es a través de su myspace: http://www.myspace.com/mandrewmusic, o en su defecto acercarse a Radio City Discos de Madrid como hemos hecho nosotros y saborear este caramelo pop que , como diría el slogan: "Se derrite en tu cerebro no en tu oido".

Nota: Si el tiempo se lo permite, échenle un vistazo a la lista de amigos que tienen los de Minesotta en su página de Myspace.

http://grandprixradioenlace.blogspot.com/

CD of the Day, 3/13/07: Mandrew-The Wonderful World of Mandrew

Last month I told you about Mandrew, and his great debut album on eMusic. Well, here's his new one, and it's another quality outing which falls somewhere between "power pop" and "indie pop". Whether it's the rocking "Burning" (which sounds like Paul McCartney fronting Collective Soul), the Jon Brion-ish "Expanding The Collection", the Beatles-by-way-of-Matthew-Sweet "I Can't Write", the Posiesesque "Obsceneries" or the AC Newman-influenced "Note to Self", the world of Mandrew is wonderful indeed, and this one needs to go to the top of your current power pop wish list. I know I'm going to have to make room in my top 10 for it.

http://absolutepowerpop.blogspot.com/

obsceneries is reviewed by the good people at howwastheshow.com.

http://minneapoliscast.com/mp3/Minneapoliscast.com-2007-03-hwts.mp3