REVIEW: The Andersons!, Separated at Birth (Lime Vinyl)
- Daniel Aloi
This L.A. quartet has all of its power-pop ducks in a row: Solid three-part vocal harmonies, jangly guitars, resounding choruses, and hook-filled and often humorous songwriting about girls, traffic jams, girls, TV and girls.
"Less angst, more bounce, still rocks" is the band's motto since 1995, which might explain how they can anchor a very competitive pop scene in Los Angeles and walk away with reams of critical praise.
If they're this engaging on stage, they must aim to keep audiences happy. Very happy. The band's music is notable not so much for being art but for its sincerity. You can tell The Andersons! have an appreciation for a good hook, a funny concept, and a bed of musical references from the classic Beatlesque mold.
Together, Derrick, Bob, and Bill Anderson are up against the gloomy blackhearted icons of modern rock's status quo -- and they're heavily armed with melody and wit in some great songs like "The Truth is Out," "You'll Get Yours Yet" and "(I'm In Love With A) TV Girl."
As good as their own work is, The Andersons! also have an anvil case full of impressive, dare-I-say mainstream pop credentials. Some of the band member's resume items:
-- Lead vocalist, bassist and ringleader Derrick Anderson helped flesh out the songs of Badfinger casualty Pete Ham on the posthumous collection 7 Park Avenue. He also played on the 1997 debut album by Chewy Marble, former Wondermint Brian Kassan's new band.
-- Bob Anderson led the now-defunct pop group Wonderboy, and spent last winter touring with Big Deal act Cockeyed Ghost.
-- New drummer Jimmy Anderson, an alumnus of Green Jello, replaces Brian Bawinkel, who played on the album. Jimmy has also toured with Dave Davies and The Muffs (Kim Shattuck provides "screams and backing vocals" here on "Symbiosis").
-- Bill Anderson is a journeyman singer-songwriter and guitarist with more than 20 years;' experience.
The package design (by Grammy winner Rachel Gutek) says it all - it's all in a spirit of fun, from the non-lookalike guys on the front to the mismatched photos atop the Danish modern stereo console on the back to the three bespectacled adult heads on wriggling sperm, printed on the disc itself.
The album was co-produced by the band and Jeb Lipson, and mixed by Brian Kehew, a Moog Cookbook member who also adds keyboards to one track here. His playing and production credits include Redd Kross, The Muffs, The Dickies, That Dog and Pat Smear.
For more information online, go to http://theandersons.com
