Indie and Lo-Fi music reviews

21 songs, and most of them are just plain great, especially the first 7. other songs require multiple listenings, but they still rock. it's all i've been listening to for the past week. the variety in styles is super, while still having an indie rock sound. kill rock stars is the greatest, and this mix rocks. yeah...so get it! it's priced well too.

I stumbled onto the work of Andy Brooks in the form of his first band Star Star Quarterback which was a solo project that predated Mittens. A house I crashed at had started a record label and that was the first record they put out. They gave me one as a present. That was in, I think, 2003 and I have probably listened to that damn CD 100 times since then.

Recently I went on line and tried to find what had become of Brooks and discovered Mittens. I also discovered that they were coming to good ol Brooklyn that month so I scared up a girl and went to see them.

Here's the thing: I am not denying Mittens is good, they are really good, maybe even great? But it is very frustrating to watch Brooks share the stage with the other singer Tim Novotny. Tim is a fine musician and rocks well, but has none of the stage presence or voice character of Andy. The most discouraging thing was that it seemed like Tim got significantly more stage time than Andy.

I think the mittens CD is a great listen (though I still like the Star Star Quarterback CD better) and I definitely like the songs that Andy sings the best. There are two SSQB songs on it I think and they are two of the best songs on the album. My favorite is another song that has Brooks written all over it called "She forget her umbrella." It becomes very clear whose songs are whose.

So at the end of the day i guess I this review is really to encourage mittens to go through whatever change it would have to to let Andy just become the sole lead singer. Sorry Tim, I am sure you are a very talented guy and if I ever meet you don't hit me in the nose, but some times these things have to be said.

So buy Mittens, Mittens. Go see them support them. Clap for Tim. Scream and show your boobs for Andy.

My friend Chung will be pleased to know that he introduced me to Mittens and now I am a pleased fan. Their music is feel good and straightforward. I appreciate their upbeat tune. It's hard to describe who they sound like, I don't know enough music to accurately compare. However all you need to know is this: Mittens are fantastic! Help these guys out, they're well deserving and have been in the underground Boston music scene for years. All of my friends are fans and you will be too...

These guys are amazing. I've seen them at the Milky Way a crap-load of times. They prove that you can play fun music that still rocks.