I JUST NEED SOMEONE TO TELL ME HOW TALL I AM
Review: Tongue Magazine
By Dee McLaughlin
Los Angeles-by-way-of-England Minibar
is a little less alt-country on this,
their second full-length record. There
are still plenty of swirling three-part
harmonies with Simon Petty's insanely
husky Peter Gabriel-meets-Sting lead
vocals, and the pedal steel guitar is
very much in evident ("Martha") but
this time, the quartet seems to have
entered more into the indie rock realm,
albeit still with a folksy feel.
"Unstoppable" adds American flavoring
to an Anglo pop dish, starting out slow
and building up to a soaring guitar line.
"Breathe Easy" has a Wallflowers feel,
and with Wallflowers keyboardist Rami
Jaffee producing some of the songs,
the shadow of this band is much felt.
Nevertheless, it's a gorgeous ballad.
There are great acoustic guitars in
the Zen-like "It Is What It Is," and
"Fly Below The Radar" is the radio hit
on the album. The song is a combination
of all the influences of the band, The
Jam, The Smiths, The Beatles...combined
with Petty's haunting lyrics delivered
by way of a heartfelt sensitivity and
intensity. This well-crafted record
will be diced, sliced, and appear on
a ton of TV soundtracks, but will it
make it to radio? Difficult to say,
but, that's missing the point, it
should be on your stereo.
From Tongue Magazine, Summer 2003