Mellow Drunk
Before And After Then (CD)
 "Before And After Then" makes it obvious why Mellow Drunk have been opening for the likes of Luna and Supergrass at San Francisco's legendary venue, The Fillmore - brilliant pop music. The line-up has an indie pedigree most shag-haired boys would give their My Bloody Valentine collection for - drummer Patrick Harte was drummer for the sublime band The Rosemarys; Ricky Maymi was a founding member of The Brian Jonestown Massacre and toured with Sonic Boom & Spectrum; Daniel Dietrick was bassist for Your Precious You; and Steven Cavoretto is the talented multi-instrumentalist from Dora Flood. Add talented vocalist Leigh Gregory to the mix and you have the catalyst for some great music.
The 3 minute crunch that is "Never Sleep At Night" starts the album off with a blast of Jesus and Mary Chain-styled fervor that neatly avoids the blatant copyist stance that bands like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club take all-too-willingly. Unlike that band, the level of diversity in the songs is the key here. The twang of the title track is gorgeous and understated and shows the record's ultimate strength is the marriage of acoustic and electric guitars. The more expansive songs benefit from talented playing that never crowds the arrangements, avoids self importance, and deftly sidesteps the noisy wanking that has become more and more irritating and unimaginatively prevalent in releases today (i.e. Stratford 4).
Well written, well recorded & expertly mixed - what more could you want?
- review by RP (9.10.03)
Mellow Drunk
mellowdrunk@earthlink.net
www.mellowdrunk.com
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