This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 12:50 pm and is filed under Magnanimous Collector. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
The stuck-in-a-punk-rut folks over at Maximumrocknroll will probably huff and puff about MouseRocket’s sophomore release, “Pretty Loud,” the way they did about the recent Black Sunday split LP, but hey, that’s their loss – and a big, fat gain for anyone who likes no-nonsense music created with heart and soul.
The new release is a smooth, poppy album that bursts with a smart blend of sunny energy and moody edginess. The stellar quintet is fronted by unstoppable powerhouse Alicja Trout (of Black Sunday, River City Tanlines and Lost Sounds fame) and Robby Grant of Big Ass Truck on guitar, with support from Hemant Gupta on bass, Robert Barnett on drums and the totally awesome Jonathan Kirkscey (from the Memphis Symphony Orchestra) on cello. Trout has never been loath to take chances with her music and this outing is no exception. The album’s 11 top-notch cuts, to be released on Tic Tac Totally! Records on April 29th (mark that calendar!), run the gamut from raw and jangly to crisp and electronic. Standouts include the epic “On the Way Downtown,” the dreamy “Aphrodite” and the slow-building “Never Stand a Chance.” There’s also a great countrified version of “I’m Set on You,” which originally appeared on Mouserocket’s debut Empty Records LP in 2004. With its gentle mix of ethereal and gritty, this record is the perfect soundtrack for summer 2008. Purchasers of the LP also receive a free CD version of the album for maximum musical flexibility.
– Jason Gelt
Photo: Tic Tac Totally! Records
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