REVIEWS | FEATURES | DEPARTMENTS | BOOMBOX | PODCAST | MISC
SEARCH:
splendid > reviews > 11/19/2002
The Reunion Show
The Reunion Show
Kill Your Television
Victory


Format Reviewed: CD

Soundclip: "Alligator Love Trap"

Buy it at Insound!
Meet the Reunion Show, four Long Islanders ready and willing to fill your kitschy power pop needs (at least until the next Weezer album drops). You know the drill -- candy cane melodies, warm, crunchy guitars and simple "oh baby I love you lyrics", delivered with the obligatory wink and nudge. It may seem a little overdone, but The Reunion Show are a bit refreshing in that they owe more of their sound to Ric Ocasek than Rivers Cuomo. It's 1983 all over again with those lovable new wave vocals and moogs-a-plenty. The hooks stack up well against any era of pop rock, with familiar chord progressions and addictive "oh-oh"s. About the only thing holding these fellows back is their tendency to drift too far into cutesy irony. Tunes like "On a Scale of One to Awesome (You're Pretty Great)" and "New Rock Revolution" overload on the sugar and silliness, and have blatantly repetitive choruses that overstate their case for sticking in your head. And while Kill Your Television remains entrenched in the proven power pop formula, the band couldn't resist throwing in a few whiny pop punk breakdowns, which detract from an otherwise timeless feel. The Reunion Show is no Superdrag, or even Saves The Day for that matter, but they at least know a hummable melody when they hear one. That's good enough for me.


REVIEWS:

12/31/2005:
Ladytron

Brian Cherney

Tomas Korber

UHF

The Rude Staircase

Dian Diaz

12/30/2005:
Helloween

PTI

The Crimes of Ambition

Karl Blau

Rosetta

Gary Noland

12/29/2005:
Tommy and The Terrors

Blacklisted

Bound Stems

Gary Noland

Carlo Actis Dato and Baldo Martinez

Quatuor Bozzoni

12/28/2005:
The Positions

Comet Gain

Breadfoot featuring Anna Phoebe

Secret Mommy

The Advantage

For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records

12/27/2005:
The Slow Poisoner

Alan Sondheim & Ritual All 770

Davenport

Beaumont

Five Corners Jazz Quintet

Cameron McGill

Drunk With Joy

12/26/2005:
10 Ft. Ganja Plant

The Hospitals

Ross Beach

Big Star

The Goslings

Lair of the Minotaur

Koji Asano



Splendid looks great in Firefox. See for yourself.
Get Firefox!


FEATURES:
Grizzly Bear's Ed Droste probably didn't even know that he'd be the subject of Jennifer Kelly's final Splendid interview... but he is!



DEPARTMENTS:
That Damn List Thing
& - The World Beyond Your Stereo
Bookshelf
Pointless Questions
File Under
Pointless Questions
& - The World Beyond Your Stereo


ARCHIVE:
Read reviews from the last 30, 60, 90 or 120 days, or search our review archive.

It's back! Splendid's daily e-mail update will keep you up to date on our latest reviews and articles. Subscribe now!
Your e-mail address:    
REVIEWS | FEATURES | DEPARTMENTS | BOOMBOX | PODCAST | MISC
SEARCH:
All content ©1996 - 2008 Splendid WebMedia. Content may not be reproduced without the publisher's permission.