High On Stress CD Release / Romantica / Snaps / Slim Dunlap
| Description: | Doors: 8pm Music: 9 pm Cover: $6 21+ *Weather permitting our alley will be open Genre: Acousitc Rock/Indie "High on Stress carry on in the grand tradition of Minneapolis music – great rock 'n' roll with a rootsy slant; cheeky at times, consistently well written and played" --Peter Jesperson,New West Records "Nick Leet is the primary songwriter, and he comes up with some lyrical nuggets, as on the opening track, "You Have Conversations with Jesus." "You're a freight train with understated makeup," Leet sings of a former girlfriend. The clever, enigmatic lyrics of "Eyeliner Blues" provide evidence that the band's been taking notes while listening to their Paul Westerberg records. "Cash Machine" is the catchiest track here, with its shout-along chorus, reminiscent of A.M.-era Wilco. High on Stress make rare, but effective use of the distortion pedal, putting a felicitous charge into tracks such as "Postcard that Says Breathe." There are other welcome, unexpected flourishes throughout, like the organ jam at the close of "Sleeping in the Backs of Cars" and the banjo fills (courtesy of guest Mike Brady) on "1995." But the track that puts this album over for me is "Minot," an irresistible poison-pen Valentine to North Dakota. "This is an ode to cover bands, and bad punk rock, and a town I can't stand," Leet snipes. More than a few small-town transplants will find the sentiment familiar." Paul Demko - City Pages When I first heard “High On Stress”, a smile spread across my face within the first few seconds of the song starting. There’s this undeniable influence from The Replacements in their tunes, and a Paul Westerberg-like croon always reminds me of better days. Honestly, the songs I heard off their 2005 “Moonlight Girls” album sounded to me like it should have been placed on the “Can’t Hardly Wait” soundtrack, alongside Westerberg and Co. and Matthew Sweet… with a little of Uncle Tupelo thrown in for good measure. A more innocent time, for me at least; when anything was possible, and music was the frikkin’ saviour of the world. In other words… it was extremely good times.--Burgo's Blog High On Stress on MySpace "For anyone worrying that the Americana genre has become a repository of the bad irony of hipsters and has-been quacks, fear not: Romantica is here to save the day. Singer/songwriter Ben Kyle is the latest in a long line of European exports to reinvigorate a genre by reclaiming it as his own—“God walks on the water, I walk through the rain,” he sings. With one foot still in his home country, and one taking a tentative step into the mess of promises and disappointments on the other side of the pond, Kyle and his bandmates dust off the brilliance at the heart of America. Most albums with such ambitious titles fall ?at in their attempt; Kyle—in songs and voice that sit comfortably between Jeff Tweedy and Ryan Adams—dwells comfortably in the long shadows cast by his forefathers while leaving his own undeniable stamp on the proceedings." David Mead, PASTE Magazine Romantica on MySpace Snaps on MySpace |
| Date: | Friday, September 5, 2008 |
| Created by: | admin |
| Updated: | Thursday, August 7, 2008 9:55pm GMT |
