REVIEW: Smart Brown Handbag, Lullabies For Infidels (Stonegarden)
- Reto Koradi
There were the times, when bands like Aztec Camera, China Crisis or The Icicle Works made shamelessly good pop music which yet was not cheesy enough to swim in the middle of the mainstream. If you sometimes long back to those times in the midst of some 80s flashback lunch, Smart Brown Handbag from Los Angeles are your instant fix.
Lullabies For Infidels contains a whole number of those sensible, yet catchy songs that you rarely hear nowadays; tracks like "Solid Gold" or "Stretching Out" stand out as first class pop songs. The comparison above was not accidental, the vocals and some hooks remind of Aztec Camera. Smart Brown Handbag have a wider spectrum thatn Roddy Frame's group, however; "Cucumber Vodka" and a few other tracks feature noisy guitars, while the vocal lines are still gentle and melodic. Band leader David Steinhart could easily win the title for most inappropriate name for a musician.
To make sure that their output does not remain unreleased, David Steinhart shorthandedly founded his own record label. We can only hope that it will pay off. Lullabies For Infidels is highly recommended to all fans of tasteful pop music.
For more information on Smart Brown Handbag, contact Stonegarden Records at 3101 Exposition Place, Los Angeles, CA 90018.
