Three years after the release of their first record, Minneapolis favorites have finally released their sophomore album, ‘Now Playing at the One-Seat Theatre’. It should come to no surprise that it’s taken them as long as it has to complete this new record. Things have changed a good bit in the past number of years for these guys as they’ve had some obstacles to overcome.

Shortly after their debut album, the oh so powerful counsel of Olympics made them change their name from The Olympic Hopefuls to simply, The Hopefuls.  Then, as the success of Erik Applewick’s band, Tapes ‘n Tapes, started to grow the choice was made and he left The Hopefuls to focus on his own project. And let’s not forget that lead singer, Darren Jackson, has been busy with his other busy band, Kid Dakota. Beyond that, several other members have children to raise and jobs to tend to. Not to worry though, fans of their first record are sure to be pleased with their follow-up.

The bottom line is, there’s a good chance The Hopefuls might make, like, a gazillion dollars or so with this new record of theirs.  It starts off with the powerfully poppy song ‘Edge of Medicine’ which seems to be about pill poppin’ and feelin’ good. Definitely Weezer influenced thru and thru. In fact, the entire album mirrors the Weezer influence. I tend to enjoy Weezer myself; however, this record has an atmospheric feel to it which is somewhat interesting and redeeming. Since Applewick left the band, keytar player and vocalist John Hermanson (also in the band Storyhill), has filled the gap by writing and singing several tracks, including the albums highlight song, ‘Stacey’, which is, of course, equally as poppy as the rest (the frickin’ song has been in my head for days on end, usually the sign of a good pop hit).

The ironic thing about these guys is the first time I heard this new record I told a friend that their music would be fitting for The O.C. Then, when I did some research on these kids, I found out that they’ve actually had their music on that show. No baloney, an altogether true story. I’m not gonna lie when I say that when I listen to this new record I get the urge to pull my old skateboard outta my closet, bleach my hair blonde and move to SoCal. The whole album is a little too perfect for my taste but I’m just one man. For those of you teenyboppers out there, look no further. The whole package is 11 songs with catchy melodies and enough vocal harmonies to go around for everyone.