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Baskervilles

Twilight

(Secret Crush; US: 3 Jun 2008; UK: Unavailable)

Bubble-gum popsters Baskervilles could be placed on the New Jersey-based Paisley Pop label given how sugary these songs are, particularly the opening, string-accented “A Little More Time” and the Beatles-leaning “Smash” with its Sgt. Pepper-ish horns. Think of a mixture of The Go-Betweens and The Minders and this album should become a bit clearer. There are also the obligatory comparisons to Belle & Sebastian or The New Pornographers on “Caught in a Crosswalk” and the dance-rock, Franz-lite “Everybody Looks Not Everybody Finds”. Following a mediocre disco-esque “Slip a Little and Boom!”, the tandem of singers Rob Keith and Stephanie Finucane are particularly cavity-inducing during “Have You Seen Them?” which contains a slight hint of synthesizer. Another highlight has to be the Kinks-ian “Sweet And Sour” as well as the equally Ray Davies-saturated “It’s a Red Fade that Leaves in a Warm Way”. But through it all, Baskervilles keep the tight, infectious and criminally catchy songs at a high level of quality with “Where Did My Summer Go?” (do I hear more horns, ah yes). And the closing “The Apartment” is a great send-off with its subtle Buddy Holly-like vocal hiccup early on.

Rating:

Originally from Cape Breton, MacNeil is currently writing for the Toronto Sun as well as other publications, including All Music Guide, Billboard.com, NME.com, Country Standard Time, Skope Magazine, Chart Magazine, Glide, Ft. Myers Magazine and Celtic Heritage. A graduate of the University of King's College, MacNeil currently resides in Toronto. He has interviewed hundreds of acts ranging from Metallica and AC/DC to Daniel Lanois and Smokey Robinson. MacNeil (modestly referred to as King J to friends), a diehard Philadelphia Flyers fan, has seen the Rolling Stones in a club setting, thereby knowing he will rest in peace at some point down the road. Oh, and he writes for PopMatters.com.


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