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"The Makes Nice, purveyor of the smartest and crispest contemporary pop music, releases its second long-play record of the year with This Time Tomorrow. Upon receiving the surprising news the band had already penned another record following the March release of its auspicious debut, Candy Wrapper and 12 Other Songs, I was understandably skeptical. Candy Wrapper was my favorite record of 2007 and songs like that don't grow on trees. How could the band even come close to matching the brilliance of its first record with virtually no turnaround? Amazingly, the band somehow upstages its debut with a record teeming with glorious, harmony-laden pop songs. Aaron Burnham's vocals have improved dramatically and they were already evocative. Josh Smith's guitar playing is customarily astounding and Jack Matthew's thunderous drumming propels the whole damn thing. Bolstered by Do It Again, the catchiest single of recent memory, the album plays like a greatest hits record. Melody, Please, You Want Me Bad, Don't You Understand, and the aforementioned Do It Again, are songs that would have been 1960's radio mainstays and deserve to be hits today. Did these guys sell their souls to invent hooks like these? Even less accessible songs like Got It Wrong From The Start and When It's All Gone are tunes that would serve as high-water marks in lesser bands' catalogues. As with Candy Wrapper, the band achieves a nearly perfect balance between musicianship and song craftsmanship. Despite its embarrassment of musical riches, the band never shows off; every sound is fashioned to serve the song. All this adds up to The Makes Nice's authoring of the two best records of 2007. The boys kick off their East Coast tour in early October (their New York appearances are on October 10th and 12th). So uncross your arms, strap on your dancing shoes, and abandon playoff baseball for at least one night." -- Frank McGar IRT
"AWESOME! Really. Truly. That this is released in 2007 is amazing, but we're talking classic '67 era Who(complete w/ a drummer inspired by Keith Moon, big time!), Skip Bifferty, The Creation, Idle Race and The Pretty Things..." -- Jenny Bulley MOJO
"Power Pop meets Mod, and I love both genres. Great frantic songwriting, heavy on the '60s R 'n' B influences like an early THE WHO on crystal meth, with some fine STEVE MARRIOT-inspired guitar licks. All done with a new approach that keeps it fresh and out of the retro herd. Loving the KEITH MOON pounding and the RIOT SQUAD harmonies... I will play this one to death and proclaim these Mod wannabees as my new favorite Bay Area band. Excellent." -- Sean Dougal, MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL
"The Makes Nice keeps it simple, creating an effortless pop record that may pierce the black fortress of winter ice surrounding your heart and convince you, if only for a moment, that life is worth living. The first four songs on this record are unrelenting in their catchiness, with melodies that burrow deep (you may find yourself humming these songs while preparing peanut butter toast before work, as I did). The title track is almost disgusting (in a good way!) with the sugary quality of all its elements: "Candy Wrapper" displays a steadfast devotion to writing an extremely sweet and catchy song (albeit with wry and bitter lyrics)--one that lends itself to the majority of the album and the '60s, sun, and lovely girls conjured as a result...The standout pop gem is "Enough is Enough," a lump of sugar that is the essence of bittersweet: the melody is automatically endearing, while the lyrics are heart breaking and straightforward. The Makes Nice ends the album with the dynamite track "Dear John;" the narrator explains why he is leaving, and how he wishes his "goodbye, good luck" letter could have articulated his motives better in an up-tempo jaunt about abandonment and heartbreak. The song is a culmination of the beauty and simplicity of their gorgeous pop that practically has talons in the way it grabs hold of the listener." -- Simon Czerwinskyj PUNK PLANET
"Holy sh*t! Make way for the new best band out of San Francisco, The Makes Nice!" -- Jake Thomas PLAYINGINFOG.COM
"What sets The Makes Nice apart from a lot of the current crop of garage rock outfits is their emphasis on Beach Boys/Beatles styled vocal harmonies and sheer songcraft. Yeah, most of these songs are totally raw and rockin' and full of high energy sonics, but also carefully arranged with vocal sweetness that would do Brian Wilson proud. Furthermore, the album is woven throughout with memorable guitar solos. Peeling off licks with tasteful abandon and doses of thick fuzz, Josh's virtuosic playing really gives The Makes Nice their unique signature and vitality." -- Aquarius Records (Record of the Week)
"The Makes Nice play forceful pop music with a punk rocker's lack of pretension, and Candy Wrapper and Twelve Other Songs is a debut that leaves the listener wanting more" -- Mark Deming ALL MUSIC GUIDE
"... The Makes Nice is a lightning-quick, sunnier-than-thou take on '60s R&B, with all of Smith's mind-blurring chops... They take a familiar friend and coat it with thick pop harmonies..." -- Christopher Weingarten PaperThinWalls.com
"All three musicians; guitarist Josh Smith, bassist Aaron Burnham, and drummer Jack Matthew are exceptional musicians who negotiate the off-beat changes with aplomb. Smith rips off a number of hot solos while Matthew pounds away with the gleeful intensity of Keith Moon." -- Dave Lifton BLOGCRITICS.ORG
"Candy Wrapper's 13 tracks clock in at just over a half hour, and not one second is wasted in this hook charged sprint." -- Sean Blake SF DELI (ALBUM OF THE MONTH)
"The garage-pop trio mixes the euphoric aggression of early Who with the sublime vocal harmonies of the Beach Boys and Big Star, blasting the mod sound of the '60s and '70s into the future." -- Dan Strachota SF WEEKLY (feature)
"Throughout Candy Wrapper there's a certain calm - call it the clarity that comes with good ole musicianship. Phil Manley of Trans Am expertly engineered the album at Lucky Cat, and he emphasized how the jazzlike rapport among the players helps the ripping guitar solos become play-it-again hooks, while the drum beats groove like funky piano solos." -- Ari Messer SF BAY GUARDIAN (feature)
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