I’m not sure if it’s really the case here, but Tony Valenziano, the man behind the Smile label that makes us do exactly that, could make his A & R-ing pretty easy. The only thing he must do is to give his own albums by The Stand and Smash to the possible signings, and tell them that if they’re able to equal them, or even make better ones, they’ll have a deal!
And since he’s managed to gather the cream of today’s pop world, you’ll realize that his albums are nothing less than genre-classics. The new one by The Stand will be a damn hard thing to equal, so if he really does apply the mentioned method in the future, the label will surely face the crisis because there won’t be many new bands signing a deal.
The man really has some kinda hypnotic thing about him … he names his label Smile, and we smile with every new release … he names his album Replay, and suddenly, all we want to do is push the “replay” button.
The Stand has it all, “raspberry” flavoured melodies hidden behind the characteristic power-chords (Let’s Get Together, Remember You, Damara), a million-selling potential of the bubblegum hit that the Bay City Rollers forgot to record on their roll to fame (Not The Same), the folk rocking super-jangle, worthy of the works of the late Stringfellow, either on his own or with his Orange Humble self …
Then, there’s the Truth hidden under the “Turtle” cover, complete with it’s sunny vocal-harmony heaven and the descending She’s-my-girl bass line intro, One Love and Replay are nothing but pop-kaleidoscopes with an arrangement-sophistication gone Jellyfishin’, and It Doesn’t Matter Anyway is just a perfect piece of moderndaze Mersey splash.
I could really go on like this until I count ’em all, and if there’s an album that doesn’t need bonus tracks, than this is it, but … you still get one … and what a bonus!!! It’s the pumped up version of the Smash original I Don’t Think I Love You Anymore. If you’d ever heard this and thought that it lacks something, believe me that the new one scratches the boundaries of your wildest imagination.
What else you get on the Smash(ing) album is a pop sophistication in the vein of Canada’s Brown Eyed Susans, if you know what I mean. Tony’s own definition is the best description of the music: “It’s not bubblegum, but sweet enough to be that close”.
Another reminiscing of the Turtle-like happy-go-lucky sunshine harmonies comes with the Daydream Girl, but in spite of this title, the real “Monkee business” you’ll experience through Paper Thin.
Some more of the USounds follows with the “wilsonian” Road Less Traveled, sounding like if Pet Sounds was recorded in the seventies, and Play By The Rules, with enough hooks to catch the greatest of the “jellyfishes”.
The other side of the ocean is represented by the Bevoir-like sophistication of Won’t Ya and Stay, with it’s stripped down acoustic arrangement leaving nothing but the beauty of the song itself, as well as Easier Said Than Done, owing it’s sound to the British Sarah sound, if you imagine it with some extra harmonies.
So, if you’re in a band, signing with the Smile label is easy. All you have to deliver is a timeless pop classic and you’re in the game in no time!
[Released by Smile 2002]
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