The Ultimate Facebook

Long before the Facebook took over our lives, in 1994, a rock band by the name of Ultimate Fakebook came to life. 3 years later they put out their debut album and in 1999 (the year like which you're supposed to party) they released an album called This Will Be Laughing Week.
I've recently discovered this record on soem power pop blog probably. And I was like "I'll give it a listen". Being all "yeah, not bad." I gave it another listen. And another one. And now I find myself genuinely enjoying this album. It's become "playlist official".

Sooooooooooo... review? kinda?

Noisome Reocrds, 1999

1. She Don't Even Know My Name
2. Tell Me What You Want
3. Of Course We Will
4. Brokÿn Nëedle
5. A Million Hearts
6. Soaked In Cinnamon
7. This Will Be Laughing Week
8. Little Apple Girl
9. I'm All Out Of It Now
10. Far, Far Away
11. Glitter & Glue
12. Downstairs/Arena Rock
13. Real Drums
14. Perfect Hair

So, 3 guys playing power pop/rock 'n' roll music. And they made this record. More than 10 years ago. They did a good job.
They start with a bang and grab the attention of the listener straight away with delightful guitar chords, nice but strong drumming and and a dude singing. And you're like "oh, this is catchy." and "I think I'm hooked". The first song is just a real fresh, hitting starter, semi-mellow, semi-upbeat and the chorus displays the singer's range of voice immediately. Or maybe his lack of range. He does these octaves that sound loike he almost can't reach them. I think he can, but there really aspirated. Anyway, he's a great singer, definitely for the power pop genre and I like what he does with his voice.
The record continues and with Tell Me What You Want it embarks on probably the catchiest song. Just that hook in the chorus, the vocal melody and harmony and those 4th-count-stops (i don't know how to call it) just make it a really infectious hit song. Great for singing along, but if you're not good at singing I'd keep it to yourself cause it's pretty intense. Further on more rocking pop hits pass the digital needle (I downloaded the record, so yeah...), and in Broken Needle the singer even uses this really high voice so I guess he's really capable of singing really good. (man, I'm making so much sense right now.)
the, time for the OBLIGATORY BALLAD. A quick Google search teaches me that there are a lot of people thinking this is a Starting Line song. Well, people who think that: it's not! This is, however, a really awesome song. It's slower and more candy-coated than the rest, but it fits the gab and shows these guys are great songwriters and can push any kind of song to a catchy pop level. I'm still in love, but I'm one of a million hearts you'll someday break. That's a damn spot-on lyric. And there are a lot of good lyrics on the record. Some identifiable, some weird and some just fun.
Back to ROCKING with Soaked In Cinnamon. Whoa. This whole song is soaked in cinnamon. So sweet. The title track basically breaks down the album as a kind of acoustic interlude. And near the end I'm beginning to hear some filler. The second "half" of the album isn't as strong as the first one. Songs like Little Apple Girl, Real Drums and I'm All Out Of It now are really good, but some of the others don't pack the punch that the first songs have. But they're totally made up for by Far, Far Away, an incredibly catchy song about Star Wars. So, yeah, the second part has really great moments but sometimes it's weaker than expected. Still hella catchy, no worries.

All in all, This Will Be Laughing Week will get on my iPod thingy and I'll listen to it a lot more because I'm digging it a lot. If you're a fan of great pop rock/power pop, good singing, catchy rhythms and great melodies you'll have to check it out. I'm off to check out the rest of their albums, I'll let you know if they're also worth your while!

Anyway, you can download their 'comeback' (?) album on their site, if you're interested. It's called Daydream Radio Is Smiling Static.