A damn-near brilliant band, New Jersey's Maximum Jack! teeter on the brink of recalling REM, Badfinger, Better Than Ezra, Game Theory ("Behind The Tree" should'a been on The Big Shot Chronicles), Shoes, America (the end of "Zoloft" lifts the riff from "Sister Golden Hair"), Big Star, Tommy Keene ("Ballad Of Twenty Dollars"), the Raspberries ("October" packs a gorgeous power-pop punch), the Who, the Jam and the Plimsouls without quite committing to any one particular style, source or sound.
The four-piece's deft incorporation of several "A"-list influences on each song (five outta eight would fare well as singles), outstanding musicianship, excellent vocals, catchy hooks and urgent melodies makes Maximum Jack's debut a "must-have" blast of high quality, high caliber, pop-based jangle-noize worthy of your immediate attention.
The disc can be purchased for $12 direct from Maxjack Records at: Maximum Jack, c/o Greg Hoy, 731 Park Ave. Suite A, Hoboken, NJ 07030 or via their web site at http://www.webcom.com/maxjack
