Men From When
About Time
Men From When

So what is to say about a band that releases its first record some 11 years after its formation? I truly respect the idea of a band of old men with beards and staches. But do they have to sound like a bar band?

Jenny McDowell sounds a lot like the power pop bands on the Perfect Pop and That's Perfect Wonderball labels used to sound like. A strong melody and with the emphasis on power.

"Nothing More To Say" is a bad take on Nirvana (Seattle edition) with all the wrong grunge ingredients included. Then pure bliss in the form of "The Same Dirt Road", a beautiful song which reminds me of a lost Men & Volts track, excluding the mini-synthesizer-solo. Men From When can be compared to M&V in other aspects too, rock songs rooted in the pre-prog rock era and the "sing with the voice you have"-attitude I really like; vocal harmonies et al. With an approach like that I should have adored a song like "Silvertone Transistor Radio" with its tribute to sixties radio but it doesn't do the trick for me (it may be that "Satisfaction" riff).

All in all, there are a lot of ups and downs on this CD. Unfortunately there are just as many downs ("Kissed" for instance) as ups ("The Sweet Marie"), I'm afraid, and there are not many songs that really stand out. Hearing them in their local bar with a beer or five on a Saturday night would probably be great, though!

Copyright © 2008 Pingo