Spinning Jennies ‎– Stratosphere

Description

Format: CD
Label: Jam Records
Catalogue: JCD-888
Barcode: 7 86984 00212 3
Country: US
Year: 2002

Condition: New

US import.

01. So Far So Good
02. Forget My Name
03. Stratosphere
04. Warning Me
05. Three Minus One
06. Carry On Attack
07. You’re The Only One
08. The Real Ramona
09. Jetfighter
10. Eddie $$$
11. Speak Now And Be Afraid

“Our new album’s gonna show some real growth!” exclaimed Spinning Jennies singer/songwriter Jeff Shelton, and he was not wrong there! To be sure, the San Francisco threesome still does what they do best, which is to give a modern spin on page 1 of the Black Vinyl Shoes playbook, but the songs on Stratosphere show a marked improvement in songwriting and production (listen to the strength of Nick Laquintano’s drumming, for example) and exude a strong aural glow.

Among the standouts are the excellent toe-tappers “So Far So Good,” “Forget My Name,” “Warning Me,” and a very nifty cover of The Three O’clock classic “Jet Fighter,” which made Michael Quercio beam with pride (he said so!). Spinning Jennies never forgets to employ some lost techiniques that made classic power pop as enduring as gravity, like the counterpoint vocals gracing “Forget My Name,” and the repeated hook line in the six minute bombshell “Three Minus One,” and “Carry On Attack” seamlessly merges disparate sections a la “A Day In The Life”.

Spinning Jennies had long earned an “A” in Power Pop 101, but Stratosphere proves that they’ve made the grade in advanced courses as well.

David Bash