REVIEW: Evelyn Forever, Lost in the Supermarket (Airplay)
- Daniel Aloi
First off, despite the borrowed title, this does not sound much like The Clash.
It sounds more like... The Cars, Cheap Trick and Superdrag on an all-night coffee jag. Or something very much like that.
New Jersey's Evelyn Forever makes precise and joyous power pop in the same league as those bands, as well as such respected farm teams as Splitsville and The Posies. Employing just about every power-pop trick in the book, they're melodic and catchy almost to a fault. Starting with "Crush," sing-along choruses and swirling guitar lines wrap around crunching rhythm riffs; and you're forced to dance around the room, what with all the punching basslines and drumbeats under those joyous harmonies. Two or three minutes later, there's another one, doing the same thing to you all over again. The band breaks with this format on two of the nine tracks, the mid-tempo ballads "Cry" and "Rockin' Chair" -- they're just as catchy as the rest, just not played as fast and loud.
The guitars of Mark Sanderlin and Reef Fanous are the stars here, playing off one another in myriad ways for endless hooks. They're joined by bassist Ed Yoo on vocals, and the clever and memorable songwriting (the chorus of "Teenage L.M.S." spells it out: "Love, Murder, Suicide") is credited to the entire band. Producer Tony Shanahan plays up all their strengths, although Matt Wilson's drums could be a little higher in the mix.
This is Evelyn Forever's second full-length release for The Airplay Label, and it's even more solid and fun than their critically acclaimed 1997 debut, Nightclub Jitters. Both albums are among the best you'll find on the independent power pop scene. As proof, E4E's "Magic of the Moment" (off the new album) was chosen to lead off the recently released International Pop Overthrow CD, a 20-band compilation on Del-Fi Records.
For more information, go to http://www.evelynforever.com or e-mail E4E@evelynforever.com
