Sunday, August 10, 2008

Reciever - Inspiration Overload - 2001


Almost two years in the making, the album from this highbrow pop quintet is radio-friendly and immediately tight. Kicking things off with "Faster," lead singer and songwriter Ken West has a soft falsetto approach to the three-minute nuggets of verse, verse, and chorus formula. Coming off as a cross between Weezer and Matthew Sweet, the group never loses their enthusiasm or steam with a collage of finely crafted pop songs. Equally an asset is the ability to swerve between tight jangle rock and full-out rock riffs for songs such as "Oleander," with its dichotomy between the straightforward Beatles structure and Beach Boys summer sweetness. A problem with many albums such as this one is the fact that there are no standout tracks, which means there is little in the way of variance. "Erica Kane," a song about the All My Children character, is a soppy and somewhat sloppy ballad miscue, while the title track should be moved up in the song list. "Accidents" and "Predictable" are the best of the lot, moving into rock territory with a simple riff and a chorus which is less than witty. Picture-pretty pop from a band on the rise. -AMG

If you like "Inspiration Overload" get it here!

3 comments:

changeling37 said...

can you believe I just stumbled upon my own cd? Anyway, feel free to grab the disc and enjoy the tunes. If anyone is interested in early demos or the rough recordings that were made for our second and never released disc, feel free to drop me a line.

Ken West

wkc said...

Excellent lp Ken should release his other songs. A real talent imho.

Shanice said...

great blog! ive added powerpop overdose to my blog links over at forgottentreasures.blogspot.com - keep up the great posting

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