Sweet QA Review.
A few years ago this obscure Seattle band released some old recordings entitled Something Quick 1980-1986 (on Green Monkey) that was terrific. Well, a decade after those recordings the band released their sophomore effort, The Mire, on Vagrant Records (not the label out of L.A., this Vagrant Records is out of Seattle). After The Mire the band recorded another record, #3, that was going to be titled Revenge! ,but it got shelved for unknown reasons and sat dormant for nearly two decades. Well, here it is and I must say, it’s great! These guys had a real pop sensibility taking elements of 60’s British Invasion stuff plus mod, power pop, new wave and a touch of punk. There’s horns all over the record and the arrangements are spot on. Cuts like “Circus Train” and “It’s not My Life’ would make at least as big a splash as GBV did back in those mid 1990’s but more people need to hear ‘em. This has the original albums eleven cuts plus they tack on three covers at the end, a Beach Boys and two Bee Gees (both from Horizontal). If I haven’t made it clear yet Released! needs to be heard by all pop ears. Make that all ears period.
