The Smithereens 2011
Album Review: The Smithereens – The Smithereens 2011
04.01.11
by Lance Burson
Have you ever listened to new songs by an old band and realized they sound like the old songs from the old band when they were new?
This happened to me when I played the new CD by The Smithereens.
Coming out of New Jersey in the mid-1980s, I first heard the Byrds/Beatles influenced foursome on the soundtrack to an underrated 1986 movie called ‘Dangerously Close’. The theme song of the film was “Blood and Roses” from The Smithereens third studio album, Especially for You. When my friends played something dumber like Bon Jovi’s Slipper When Wet, I’d toss in The Smithereens cassette and maybe one other person would get what I was hearing.
Over the next 10 years I’d play a several of The Smithereens albums, considering them to be a good band that played catchy well made power pop songs with contagious guitar riffs.
For the first time in 12 years, The Smithereens are releasing a new studio album, plainly titled, The Smithereens 2011. There’s nothing new in The Smithereens musical direction. 2011 sounds a lot like 1986 and a lot like 1989; the year they made Smithereens 11 (they like numbers). Smithereens 11 had “A Girl Like You”, which sounds like three or four songs on this new CD.
Lead singer Pat DiNizio sounds better than he has in many years. Jim Babjak’s familiar guitar is textbook power pop, carrying The Smithereens sound.
The album starts with the already released first single, the riff-heavy, melodic-laded “Sorry”. The chorus is catchy, it sounds great in your car, but it also recalls their 1988 song “Only A Memory”, which also sounded great in your car. My favorite song is towards the end of the CD, called “Nobody Lives Forever”. The song’s dark guitar and realistic lyrics sound a theme; The Smithereens knows who and what they are and they’re cool with it.
I’ve been a fan of The Smithereens for 25 years. Their new music sounds like their old music. If you want to hear “Blood and Roses”, “Only a Memory”, and “A Girl Like You” but with different lyrics and a more grown up tone, then The Smithereens 2011 is for you.
Editor’s Note: Lance Burson is a contributor to DeadJournalist.com. He also writes his own blog which you can read here and you can follow him on Twitter: @TLanceB.
