Word: hanley
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...title track, with its punky-paced, unrestrained musical journey in Hanley's car, again highlights Polce and emphasizes the talented band members--Greg McKenna and Michael Eisenstein on guitar and Scott Riebling on bass--and guest organist Jed Parish. With an attractive female lead, the men sometimes get pushed to the background, but they are essential in completing the perfect pop rock sound of Letters To Cleo, especially on a song like "GO!". With Hanley's ecstatic voice, the band's instruments wailing with heed to precise dynamics and a circuslike organ bopping along to the automobile antics, the song...
...every song pumped forward like an amphetamine-induced joy ride, however, GO! would fall flat on its otherwise toe-tapping feet. Hanley & Co. have already perfected the art of incorporating myriad tempos and styles--all deviating from the same rock standard, of course--into their musical output, but this album boasts few departures from the peppy pace set by "I Got Time." This is not to say GO! will bore or sound repetitive because within the charming, speed-laced tunes are some of the best variations Letters To Cleo have ever recorded...
...country-tinged ditty "Co-Pilot" which reminisces over adolescent infatuation. The dreamy song begins a '60s high school love song kitsch and quickly leaps into sappy, swinging obsession with the first lyric. Despite immediately trying to deny "Co-Pilot," escape from the unforgettable melody and the blend of Hanley and supporting vocals, wrapping up the song is impossible...
...sincerity in this sensitive area finds the soft, expressive "Aloutte & Me." A change in vantage point at the love lost and found ("why did you go ruin every thing...it's the strangest thing/it doesn't hurt but I won't forget the sting") sets a sorrowful tone to Hanley's emotional prude. Add a little more edge to the vocals, guitar and drums to "Alouette & Me" and "Because Of You" pops rights out. Hanley wants to let go but can't bear to detach: "I've a dark and snowy remembrance of this/but remind me again of what...
Returning to the frenzied pop rock thread on the album, "Anchor" again explores the enigma Hanley deems lyricism. Opening with "the anchor is a kickstands/so you are going down with me/to the wrong side of the-quicksand," the band immerses the not-so-lucid message in flawless lollipop rock to create a confusing but lovable tune. "Anchor" is a musical advertisement for the lead singer--refreshing to match Hanley's slicker fashion sense and newly cropped bright red hair, and oblique enough to equal the message straining to come out from her internal vault...