New Review up! And Chipmunks sing Crank it Out!
Posted April 23, 2008
Ari Shine “A Force of One” (Bongo Beat Records, 2008) Shine provides polished pop sounds Power-pop is one of those genre labels that, unlike Americana (which of course can include power-pop) is precise in its meaning. We all can agree what power-pop denotes - if I list out Raspberries, Big Star, Matthew Sweet, Cheap Trick, Velvet Crush, I don’t think that I’d get many arguments. We can just about agree what it is and what it isn’t. Shine definitely warrants inclusion, and these guitar based songs bristle with hooks, a kind of pop sea anemone packed with stinging melodies. At times he sounds like a young Elvis Costello (see ‘Cooler than Me’ or ‘A Force of One’) and he throws in some curveballs with some Middle-Eastern touches on ‘Beirut 1978’ and some vintage synth sounds that make ‘Party People’ or ‘Beat You’ sound like Blur’s ‘Boys and Girls’ fighting for some of the Human League’s ‘Love Action’. At his best with the guitars turned up to 8, songs such as ‘She Wants It (More than Me)’ are efficient tours through the hinterlands of power-pop. ‘Cooler than Me’ with its high tempo and woodpecker piano provides a burst of energy, not quite ‘Kids on Coffee’ but definitely an adult still burning with excitement.
