Girls Aliens Food

The Simple Carnival (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 1, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sundrift Records
• ASIN: B001F4UF0A
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #316,757 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Really Really Weird

2. Keeping It Quiet

3. Caitlin's On the Beach

4. Cocktails

5. Flirt

6. Nothing Will Ever Be As Good

7. Sidewalks

8. Over Coffee and Tea

9. Misery

10. You Jump First

11. Effortlessly

12. Hey Lancaster

Editorial Reviews

Review

There's two kinds of pop music out there: over-produced, corporate constructed noise designed and built with one goal in mind: to generate maximum profit; then there's music that's not hard enough to really rock, not slow enough to be easy listening and doesn t waver between the two languidly. Instead it expresses that rare feeling of content and bliss that nobody looking to be a rock star would dare go near. True artistry is rarely concerned about rock star status, and that's never more evident than in Jeff Boller's release under the name The Simple Carnival entitled Girls Aliens Food. It's a 12-song compilation of bouncy, light-hearted pop gems that never try to do more than what they can: entertain. Because isn't that exactly what music is supposed to do? And you can't help but chuckle at the lyrics to album opener Really Really Weird that repeats You're really, really weird a half a dozen times. And you get the feeling Jeff Boller means it. Channeling the best of Brian Wilson with Caitlin's on the Beach, The Simple Carnival embodies its name: after listening you just want some cotton candy and a girl to ride the Ferris wheel with. --Jake Benjamin, Amplifier Magazine

Product Description

The Simple Carnival is not so much a band as it is the pop brainchild of Jeff Boller, a Pittsburgh-based singer/songwriter/musician who plays all thirty or so instruments on this debut full-length album, Girls Aliens Food.

Girls Aliens Food sparkles with a late-seventies AM pop radio feel: sunshine pop-influenced harmonies, soaring melodies, tack piano, handclaps, and vintage keyboards dominate. Jangly guitars make several appearances, but any trace of a fuzz pedal is curiously absent.

Beneath the bubbly songs about college campus alien invasions, lovesick joggers, and the joys of trespassing is a surprising amount of emotional resonance: "I wanted to make an album that was both fun and serious at the same time," Boller says. "I like the idea of something that can be enjoyed for what it is on a surface level, but carries some weight for those willing to dig a little deeper."

"YAY! Looks like good music is coming back!" -Margo Guryan

"Catchy, sweet, tender, quirky, and sung with unbelievable charm. One of this summer's hits. (One of mine, anyway.)" -Louis Philippe

"[Jeff Boller] must be the long lost son of Brian Wilson if the mp3s on the band's web site are anything to go by." -This Almighty Pop!

"Jeff Boller is a one-man pop machine known as The Simple Carnival... and where the hell have his pop stylings been all of my life?" -RetroLowFi

"A Nilsson for the modern generation." -Russell's Reviews

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars pop, October 12, 2008

By	rab209 - See all my reviews

Breezy pop with great harmonies and a sort of Brian Wilson meets Ben Folds sound. Good buy.

5.0 out of 5 stars CATCHY, July 27, 2009

By	R. D. Cobb "FumbleFingers" (Anderson SC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Back in 60's this would be called Pop Music - Top 40 - today there no longer seems to be a category for this amazing sound - I'll just call it catchy for now - it's definitely not heavy or hard.......the Beach Boys come to mind but only for a moment - maybe the arrangements - there is melody, harmony. beat and great sound - everything needed to make a great cd - Caitlin At The Beach is worth the price of admission - BUT - just put it on - the entire experience will make you go back for more - again and again - great job!

5.0 out of 5 stars This is an incredible album - you'll love it, July 1, 2009

By	Kathy Buckley "Kat" (Springfield, Massachusetts United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

One of the newer, most original clever CDs from a new band I've heard in years. I listened to it about 4 times over from the moment it arrived in the mail.. and I'm still humming the songs.
Pay attention to the lyrics tho - because that's the clever part- the lyrics do not match the bouncy happy music - a.k.a. Harry Nilsson's toungue and cheek songs from his early days. I laughed so hard at a couple of the lines that I now use them in conversation. I will listen to this album a great deal - this isn't a "listen once" and put it up on your dusty CD shelves. This is one that will stay out in your "favorites" pile next to the CD player that is the closest to all your summer activities.
Kat