The Rhinos - Year of the Rhinos - 2003

Year of the Rhinos is a pop underground release from Swedish natives the Rhinos. From the first guitar pickings, one can tell that the Rhinos have listened to all of their Byrds records many times. "Stop the Time" has guitar tones that jangle along, while multi-layered vocals harmonize. As the Rhinos push on, the reference to the Byrds goes only so far as the picking and tones of the guitars are concerned. At the Rhinos' best moments, they take some cues from Teenage Fanclub's uniquely modern take on the '60s, making you want to bust out all of your Teenage Fanclub records. "On Bus No. 9" is a bouncy pop tune that touches on an area that the Rhinos could focus and fine-tune. Unfortunately, Year of the Rhinos' midtempo picking gets to be a bit much for the length of the record, but hints at a direction that the Rhinos could tighten up and make their own in future releases. -AMG



The Rhinos - Year of the Rhinos - 2003/rs
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The Rhinos - Year of the Rhinos - 2003/sb