Customer Reviews

Kind of Light

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

 

 

This is an excerpt from my review for Scoot! Quarterly Magazine:

The 88 was voted Best Pop/Rock Band by LA Weekly and I can see why. The album reminds me of a long summer weekend I spent in Venice Beach and the resulting rooftop party. The 88 sounds as if it has distilled whatever SoCal sunshine has been reverberating since 1960 into a solid collection of catchy rock and roll. Yet, the sunshine doesn't render it pop fluff. I imagine a youthful Ray Davies transplanted to a funky beach bungalow. Songwriter and lead singer Keith Slettedahl even sounds a bit like the Kinks' front man and utilizes bits of slide guitar and melodious vocals reminiscent of what made the Kinks stand apart from their peers. This is especially evident in the song No Use Left For Me, which deftly incorporates an accordion. My favorite song is Sunday Afternoon (not to be confused with the Kink's Sunny Afternoon) which can turn any car into a virtual Chevy Malibu convertible. I defy you not to sing along...even if its lyrics mention both God and prostitutes.

This really is a fantastic CD. There's a pretty major Kinks (circa Something Else)influence hanging over Kind of Light and the lead singer can sound eerily like Ray Davies at times. It'll be a shame if it gets lost in the shuffle due to lack of publicity. Possibly one of the best of 2003.

This is a surprising record: the 88 is a local LA band and they live somewhere between XTC, Squeeze and T Rex. Even when you think a song might be kind of cheesy there's something that draws you deeply in and surprises your concept of pop music. I like them very much and think the record, while nothing to look at, is definitely worth the bucks. Big fat surprise.

So they have a stupid name. Not much you can do about that. You can do yourself a favor, though, and find this cd. I am a big fan of catchy, hook-laden power pop tunes and catchy hook-laden piano pop tunes, and that is what this album is all about. There are a couple songs that don't fit with the rest but that's easily forgivable for the greatness of the rest of them. At times I am reminded of the piano bliss of Ben Folds but this is a POWER POP record. So if you ever wanted Ben Folds to make a POWER POP record, this may whet your appetite because that day will never come. Bottom line - it's not "destined to become a classic" as almost every cd on Amazon has in one review or another. But it's darn catchy. and that's all that matters... to me. Rock that camel to Russia!

This is a band i ended up stumbling into via the hey-day of BMG and got their third album because it was somewhat a hit mainstream-wise. Fastforward to going to see Ray Davies, where this band opened for him and then played as his backing band and it re-opened my eyes and ears to giving these guys more of a look.

If you like the Kinks or Jellyfish you will dig on this band pretty well. This album for a debut has some really killer tunes on it AND one could actually argue, it *might* be the best album they've made.
(for the record though, they're ALL worth picking up!)

I've been listening to this CD constantly. It's absolutely addictive. They have such a cool, unique sound. I don't agree with some reviews comparing them to The Kinks. I think they are totally unique. I can't compare them to anyone else, really. They just have their own sound. And it's GREAT!

This CD is a good effort by an up and coming LA band. A lot of the songs are similar in style, but that doesn't make them bad. This is a good, upbeat CD. The last song,'Hard To Be You' is reminiscent of the Beatles. Other songs will have you asking yourself, "Who do these guys sound like". It's not my favorite, but it's pretty good.