Published on May 8, 2003
You’re tired of what you’ve been listening to lately, aren’t
you? I know, because it happens to me every two days or so.
I’ve been seeing this particular album in shops for the past
three months, so I grabbed it and plopped it on. No, they aren’t
the band doing that cool theme song to
The Sopranos with Tony driving home (that’s A3). ‘A’ are
actually an English (Suffolk) kitchen-sink-rock quintet with three
brothers and a penchant for happy, energetic live shows free of
moping, or being “epic” through boring, stoned jamming, or making
each of your songs at least nine minutes long so you can ponder the
meaning of your belly-button while you wait for the ecstasy to take
effect .
The songs here are concise, tight pop ditties that are
extreeemely memorable. This is number two (A2?), and they’re using
the traditional vocals/guitars/bass/keyboards/drums mixture with
samples and loops pinging from one speaker to the other, and great,
hooky, sing-along Beatle-esque songwriting and vocal harmonies not
heard since Lennon/McCartney or Beach Boys perfected them.
Three-fifths of ‘A’ sing (quite well too), so that helps. While
lead vocalist Jason Perry handles the main part of the chorus,
sibling Giles Perry or Daniel P. Carter usually provides a Plan B
sub-chorus, as the third voice comes in with scatterings of
rebuttal counterpoints. This feisty casserole of rawk sounds B-I-G
because the production (recorded in Belgium by Al Clay) is so
three-dimensional, and the performances are inspired. Quick
comparisons to The Beastie Boys are warranted, but I hear a
distinct Superdrag/Doughboys edge in there as well.
I love this cd, even if ‘A’ wishes they were American
Snowboarders, and once toured with the Bloodhound Gang. Standout
songs: “If It Ain’t Broke Fix It Anyway,” “For Starters,” “Jason’s
Addiction” (haha), and “Monkey Kong.”