Customer Reviews

Hooray for Tuesday

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

...at least when it comes to pop records. The anonymous person who gave this one star must've lost a girlfriend or boyfriend to one of the Minders, or owe them money, or something...

Anyway, unlike many Elephant 6 bands, you can actually believe the British accent with which Minder leader Martyn Leaper sings: he was born in the UK--so there. He's been blessed with the ability to write incredibly catchy, dramatic songs, too. Way too many E6 bands come up with one nice riff and try to make a whole song out of it; Leaper and Co. manage to use that great riff as a starting point for a great song with choruses, bridges, and dramatic turns: "Red Bus" has a great hook on the verse, but nothing prepares you for the sheer gorgeousness when the multipart vocal chorus comes in.

A final word on the backing vocals that have been disparaged elsewhere.... They're absolutely lovely. Someone in this band has clearly studied piano pretty seriously, because many times the vocals drift into contrapuntal structures--from firsthand experience, those are *tough* to do.

This clocks in at a beautiful 32 minutes, just perfect for what's being attempted. When I hear this, I hear elements of the Kinks (very Edwardian at times), the Fab Four, and even the Who. Highly Recommended!

Okay, I haven't heard this new version with the bonus tracks, but I downloaded this from itunes a few months ago, and have been listening to it pretty much non-stop since. It's amazing...
For some background, I am predisposed to like this music. These guys are part of the Elephant 6 collective, which includes bands such as Of Montreal, Neutral Milk Hotel, Elf Power and Apples in Stereo -- all of whom kick serious ass. It's also produced by Elephant Six big-wig Robert Schneider, who produced, among other things, Neutral Milk Hotel...
However, of all the faux-Sixties, nouveau-psychedelic music I've been enjoying recently, this album is the best I've found. There isn't a wasted moment on this album; it's just one perfect, sugary-sweet pop song after another, all of them catchy as hell, and more chock-full of hooks than your grandfather's box of fishing tackle. The music is smart, reminicent of your favorite 60's music, and would seem perfectly in place on a Wes Anderson soundtrack or Rubber Soul-era Beatles. I'd give it six stars if I could.
This album has been out of print for some time, and it's about time it's back. I dare anyone out there who likes fun, catchy 3-minute pop songs to listen to this album and not love it. Do it! Do it!

As good as, if not better than, their previous 7" records; mercifully short (less than 30 min.) in an age of CDs more tediously overlong than the 3-LP 'concept' albums of the 70s, herein you will find a dozen of Mr. Leaper and Co's perfect pop songs. Bubblegum effluvia, ancient analog synth chirrups, harmonies proven to cause tooth decay by 5 out of 5 dentists, but entirely worth it for the sound of 100-proof candyfloss brewing in the secret hollow beneath a leopardskin nymphette's sewing-table. Erudite but never pretentious, tense but never histrionic, and affected with that same sunny, eccentric faux-Englishness which flavors the majority of Elephant 6 releases in much the same way that cardamom seeds flavor strong, black coffee. Get "Cul De Sacs and Dead Ends," too, which comprises singles and sundry other songs and gives you the makings of a fine 90-min. cassette to make unbearable traffic bearable.

As good, if not better than their three previous 7" records, mercifully short (less than 30 min.) in an age of CDs more tediously overlong than the 3-LP 'concept' albums of the 70s, herein you will find a dozen of Mr. Leaper and Co's perfect pop songs. Bubblegum effluvia, ancient analog chirrups, and the sound of 100-proof candyfloss brewing in the secret hollow beneath a leopardskin nymphette's sewing-table. Erudite but never pretentious, tense but never histrionic, and affected with that same sunny, eccentric faux-Englishness which flavors the majority of Elephant 6 releases in much the same way cardamom seeds flavor strong, black coffee. Get their 3 singles, too.

I am a new fan of The Minders. "Hooray For Tuesday" was their first CD I received and I think it's primetime. They have a great sense of melody and variation. The music almost seem inhabited by the Beatles (Although Ringo and Paul are still kicking). I love the bonus tracks which give a second time a round to enjoy their heartfelt classic such as "Hooray For Tuesday" and and "I've Been Wondering". I love that I can listen to the whole album and not have to skip around to find the songs I like. I think out of the three album I received from them, this is their best.

This album is excellent. The Minders are an underrated part of the Elephant 6 collective, and this album is their best in my opinion. If you like pop, you will like this album. Buy it and you won't regret it.

This is the best album of the last half of 1998. Period.

There, I got that bit over with. And it's true, might I add.

In the course of 35 minutes or so, The Minders set a course on their debut LP that begins in the midst of the Magical Mystery Tour, jaunts about with a Rubber Soul, jumps on the Last Train To Clarksville, and finally ends back where it begins.

This is a delicious blend of instant-classic pop and head-spinning psyche that will leave your head dizzy with melodies and hooks for hours after every listen. Once you get over the amazing Paul McCartney simulation that prevails over the title track and the could-be-a Rubber Soul outtake `Pauline,' you begin to realize just how deep and well crafted this record really is.

Fans of retro, fans of pop music, fans of indie, all should give this a few spins.

"ever get the feeling you've been cheated" comes to mind when I hear this sorry branch of the Elephant 6 mega-tree. There are only so many retro-pop artists a man can take in one lifetime, and I think I just reached my fill, thank you. Here the chipper happy instruments and one voice arrangements (with short tack-on harmonies for good measure) has left the realm of Beatle/Beach Boy impersonation, and stumbled into the backwater of Brit-pop (AKA Peter Noone).