The Whigs

Mission Control
(ATO)

Are you half of a two-piece rock band?
Possible answers are: a) Of course. b) No. I’m lame. c) No. I do many other interesting and/or necessary things with my life.
For the latter, I say, buddy, relax. Have a rock record. It’s good, and your girl will like it. With focused marketing, you might even hear it on that radio station you like, the one with those loud, car-dealer commercials that you don’t mind listening to.

Parker Gispert sings exactly like a rock band singer should — like he’s here to make girls want to make sex with him. Song titles include “Like a Vibration,” “Hot Bed,” “Already Young,” “I Got Ideas” and “Need You Need You.” Can’t you smell his leather pants already?
No politics, no religion, just … “Hey, what are you doing after the show?”
It’s all there in his voice. I even thought it was the other guy singing on two songs, “I Never Want to Go Home” and “1,000 Wives,” but it turns out that was just him faking sensitivity like the Foo Fighters to get even more tail. Right on!
File under: Dude, just let me rock, OK?

c. 2008 LEO Weekly

Times New Viking

Rip It Off
(Matador

1993: A triumphant time. Our authentic rock star was Layne Staley, not that poseur Jon Bon Jovi; our president was Clinton, not that asshole Bush. While the popular kids hated Shannen Doherty, music nerds argued passionately about Kurt and Eddie, licensing your song to a car commercial meant career suicide, and nothing was hipper than burying your pop songs under a mountain of hiss, as if the tapes had fallen into a toilet 30 years before and just been rediscovered.
"Rip It Off" (a title which should’ve been reconsidered) is an enjoyable (if more challenging than necessary in 2008) pop record. It owes a debt to Superchunk primus inter pares (mostly considering the chipmunk quality of the vocals, which is not to everyone’s taste). Otherwise, they are a fine band who probably sound fun live.

While they’re working on their rip-offs, they might consider following the path of Pavement, a band that began making lo-fi rumbles and evolved into a mature, beloved band that will, undoubtedly, reunite in about four years and make millions.

c. 2008 LEO Weekly