Turbula
Online since August 2002
Music

A solid second effort

Reviewed December 2007

With Friends Like These
With Friends Like These
By The Modlins

Self-released: 2007

To hear sound clips or learn more about this release, Turbula recommends viewing the band's Web site.

Less than a year after their debut, San Diego's The Modlins return with a another '60s mod-flavored slice of power pop goodness. The best news? The new album doesn't disappoint; it's clear the four men of the band had a ready storehouse of great songs left in the bin after their first release.

With three- and four-part vocal harmonies, clever word play, clean guitar-based arrangements and some of the most intoxicating little melodies you'll hear, this is every bit the equal of "Here's to Being Happy."

"She Won't Miss Me" is a near-perfect pop song: A melody that nestles into your ear like your hand into a pair of well-designed gloves; vocal harmonies to make you think John and Paul; noodling electric guitar that darts in and out of the melody line, riding atop the bubbling rhythm. It's got the kind of narcotic hold that a classic Herman's Hermits song would have – while still having the kind of contemporary power pop sensibility you'd hear in Fountains of Wayne or Wheezer.

Review by Jim Trageser. Jim is a writer and editor living in Escondido, Calif., and was a contributor to the "Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD" (1993) and "The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Blues" (2005).



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