  Nevada Bachelors
Hello Jupiter
Popllama
CD Review by Stephanie
Pure
A recent
comb-though of my paltry-yet-pithy CD collection
unearthed a recording of which whose praises I
should have sung months ago. Through all faults
of my own, I somehow managed to acquire a copy of
the Nevada Bachelors' sophomore effort (not to be
confused with sophomoric, oh no), but somehow did
not find the time to tell the world exactly what
they were missing. Shame on me and a loss for
you. This record, complete with sunny title,
"Hello Jupiter", is a terrific
rock'n'roll album that jumps along with skillful
songwriting and is heavy on the fun factor. They
make it all look very breezy, although I am well
aware that this kind of thing doesn't come along
without a raft of talent, which the Bachelors
clearly have (or had, rather) in spades.
Usually when
someone asks me what a band sounds like, I
usually answer with, "The Beatles",
because really, what do I know? However, this
case I can honestly say that I think of The
Beatles every time. That is, right after I think
of Supergrass and Sloan, two sure-fire influences
of this now-defunct band. This record is a
reasonable facsimile of their spirited,
hair-shaking live shows and includes two pure-pop
masterpieces, "New Amazing Buzz" and
"the Preliminaries", along with my
personal favorite, "Sophomore", a funny
look-back at college. (Not my college career, I
might add, but pretty much everyone else's I'm
sure. I kept my nose in the books the whole
time...I swear.) In a phrase, if you enjoyed
"Carrots and So On", you'll love this
record even more. The Nevada Bachelors never come
across as a band that has something to prove or a
bone to pick, but they aren't fluff-pop by any
stretch either. A listen to "Thought"
(or Carrots' "Planet Upswing"), proves
that point efficiently.
Needless to say,
it's been sad to see the Bachelors struggle with
band issues, though I'm thrilled that singer and
lead songwriter Robb Benson hasn't stopped the
train. He continues to bless us with his pleasing
voice and snappy arrangements. Thank goodness.
I'm in desperate need for some more CDs.
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