 |
We're blushing,
For reals though. Kiki Schueler over at Local Sounds Magazine just gave us a gleaming review and I think Ryan may be grinning from ear to ear for a week after being called "the magic ingredient" of The Exports. Check it out for yourself:
Local Sounds Magazine
Friday October 23rd
---
Despite
claims to the contrary, I’m not convinced the August Teens are any
closer to releasing their debut record than they were when they formed
over three years ago, and Kyle Motor stubbornly refuses to break the
Motorz’ extended hiatus. In their absence I was ready to crown Archie
Powell & the Exports the new kings of Madison power pop. I was . .
. until I found out they moved to Chicago in August. But Loose Change
is so good, and such a perfect, shining example of what makes power pop
great, that I am more than willing to let them rule from afar.
[...]
At least that is what I think happened. On both their MySpace and
their very entertaining website (which has features like the webisode
“Ask Brian (While He’s in the Shower)”), [...] they turned the catchy
level up to eleven. [...] Ryan Export’s bouncy keyboard proved to be
the magic ingredient.
Too often keyboards come off sounding
cheesy, but here it rumbles effectively underneath urgent opening track
“Moving to the City” and slowly moves to the front through the course
of their four original tunes, until it is carrying the melody on “Piggy
Bank Blues.” Rather than the usual power pop subjects of girls and
cars, they prefer to discuss their aspirations and the economic
shortfalls of being a musician. It would seem “Moving to the City”
predicted their relocation to Chicago, though it almost seems they had
no choice as each line of the chorus ends with a mission. “Gonna play
my hand,” “gotta make a stand,” “gonna pay my dues and say goodbye,”
and “gonna find my ground and resupply” are all reasons they had to be
moving on.
“Loose Change” continues in the same vein, though in
this case it sounds more like a case of needing to get away than having
a destination in mind. “Piggy Bank Blues” is an honest assessment of
how being in a band usually takes more than it gives, especially
monetarily. “Six years going and it’s time to assess if we’ve taken
all there is to take, feeling apathetic and I gotta confess I think
we’re never gonna catch us a break,” captures the futility inherent in
being in an unknown band, though the damning line is probably “It
doesn’t really matter if you’ve been to college or not, because rock
and roll is just a pyramid scheme.”
You’re probably wondering
how I know this is perfect power pop. Easy. Other than their
brilliant cover of Bobby Freeman’s “Do You Wanna Dance,” every song is
three minutes long, plus or minus nine seconds. There are hints of a
host of influences, from Weezer to Wilco, but their infectious melodies
and easy rhymes make Archie Powell & the Exports instantly
memorable. It’s probably a good thing they moved before I got too
attached.
---
Thank you very very much for the kind words of praise. Being ranked up there with The August Teens is definitely a compliment in my book. Thanks a lot!
Remember kids, we got a show in Milwaukee tomorrow, so come on out for some good drinks and good tunes.
Export out.
- Adam Export
10:10 PM
Powered by  | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|