TOOTHPASTE 2000
Catch-22
(Parasol)
Oh man, I feel guilty for not
getting to this CD earlier – it’s been sitting in my “To Review” pile
for months now but somehow or other, could never get right down to typing out
the review. Better late than never, eh? Truth is, I really dug T2000’s last
release – the poptastic Instant Action and was looking forward to this
with eager anticipation. Maybe that’s the problem – great expectations.
Whilst Catch-22 doesn’t quite touch the same heights, there’s no
denying that the way T2000 attack those sludge-y power chords on the
irresistible opener “Walking Out the Door,” in the finest tradition of the
Kinks’ earliest material is sheer bliss. Especially when you discover a groove
that sinks its claws into you so deep you cannot help but…move!
The rest of Catch-22never
really gets going in the same vein but T2000 takes the time to fully explore the
complete spectrum of Britpop circa 1963 - 1966 eg. the Spectoresque belter
“Crying in the Morning,” the swinging “Just Because,” the tight epic
“You Don’t Love Me Anymore,” the jaunty Lennonesque “Let’s Keep It
Real” and the punky “Action Girl.”
That said, Catch-22 contains
twenty-two tracks of sharp ambition and each one is evenly distinctive, honest
expressions of the pop genius that resides in Donna Esposito and Frank Bednash.
Long, long may they run! A-
