Deer Park Avenue “Stop and Go”
A pair of Californian sisters (Sarah and Stephanie Snyder) named the band for a street they lived on during childhood in Long Island, NY. The duo performs a combination of melodic rock and pop (fans of Jana Perri take note) – the harder rock stuff starts off first with “Hey Maria” full of driving guitar chords and a strong chorus. More subtle is the mid tempo “Darkness Hides Me” as it slowly builds, getting louder as the mood and lyric become more defiant.
“Millionaire” is another slow builder but with a strong drum section, a bit like an 80’s arena power ballad with shouts of “Hey! Hey!” in the chorus background and “Over Again” recalls the heavy pop guitars of Tonic or The Goo Goo Dolls with sweet female vocals.”Waiting For You” is another good rocker with a nice charging set of power pop riffs. A good debut, sometimes I felt the girls sweet vocal style may be better suited to country that rock, but that contrast is also what kept me listening.
Bubble Gum Orchestra “Out Of This World”
Some say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, if that’s the case then Michael Laine Hildebrandt (aka Bubble Gum Orchestra) worships the ground Jeff Lynne walks upon. Everything from the cover art to the lyrics are related to all things Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). I will admit that such slavish devotion will turn off some listeners, but if you forgive this the first single “Night In Shangri-la” is quite good, with a catchy chorus that name drops several ELO songs. Next, “Lights Over London” has a bouncy rhythm and it’s a good follow up.
Unfortunately the next few songs tend to drag along, with long effects laden intros and synth breaks that slow the album’s momentum. In technical terms alone, it’s quite an achievement — but the album is so in thrall to ELO it precludes any chance of Hildebrandt imposing his own identity on the material. If you are an ELO fanatic however, then this may find a place in your music collection.
Hello,
Thanks for the review, much appreciated. Just to let anyone know that this project was written and recorded out of my LOVE of music and my personal spirutal connection to Elo’s OOTB, nothing more, nothing less. It’s not a tribute or cover, but a whole new recording in the Style of ELO, just the Style. Hope this helps clear up my true intentions when I composed this album. BGO was born solely out of my love of semi-orchestrated pop-rock, not my intent to copy ELO songs. If anyone expected this to just be a different Verson of ELO, they will be very dissapointed. Only Mr. Lynne can deliver a true ELO album! Thanks again for listening. Michael Laine Hildebrandt
I can’t argue with this, and another band that I found that worships ELO is a Norwegian band called AlternativA – and it also misses the mark.
I’m a huge ELO fan, and this album just didn’t hit the mark. Aside from a few standout tracks, the album was quite dull and overall cheesy. Hopefully Secret Power’s upcoming album can bring in some better ELO-inspired tunes.