Sunday, February 28, 2021

Velvet Crush - Teenage Symphonies to God

Name: Velvet Crush
Album: Teenage Symphonies to God
Year: 1994
Style: Power Pop
Similar Bands: Posies, Redd Kross, Matthew Sweet, Teenage Fanclub, Raspberries, Big Star, Cliff Hillis, Connells, Ass Ponys, Young Guv, Soul Asylum, Fig Dish
"One-Word" Review: Streamlined Power Pop
Based Out Of: Providence, Rhode Island
Label: Sony Music Entertainment, Sony 550 Music, Creation Records, Epic
Tape & Cover
Tape
Teenage Symphonies to God (1994)
  1. Hold Me Up 2:58 (single)
  2. My Blank Pages 3:29
  3. Why Not Your Baby 4:48 (Gene Clark, single)
  4. Time Wraps Around You 4:12 (single)
  5. Atmosphere 3:52
  6. #10 2:22 /
  7. Faster Days 4:36 (Stephen Duffy)
  8. Something's Gotta Give 5:50 (Matthew Sweet)
  9. This Life is Killing Me 2:49 (single)
  10. Weird Summer 3:51
  11. Star Trip 4:17
  12. Keep On Lingerin' 2:29
Album Rating (1-10): 8.0

Members & Other Bands:
  • Ric Menck - Drums (Choo Choo Train, Bag-O-Shells, Springfields, Reverbs, Paint Set, Pop the Balloon, Liz Phair, Marianne Faithful, Tyde, Matthew Sweet, Drats!, Big Maybe, Beatnik Filmstars, Eleventh Day Dream, Shoes, Matt Allison, Gigolo Aunts, Duffy, Kyle Vinvent, Aimee Mann, Two Lips, Dan Castellaneta, Andrew Sandocal, Angie Heaton, Mia Doi Todd, Pernice Brothers, Lori Meyers, Novenas, Quarter After, Stupid Cupids, Tommy Keene,  )
  • Paul Chastain - Vox, Bass (Choo Choo Train, Bag-O-Shells, Springfields, Nines, Stupid Cupids, Matthew Sweet, New Ruins, Big Maybe, Tomy Keene, Beowulf Umbrella, Eleventh Dream Day, Matt Allison, Duffy, Unbunny, Shalini, Three Hour Tour, Wicked Walls)
  • Jeffery Borchardt/Underhill - Guitar (Honeybunch, White Sisters, Springfields)
  • Mitch Easter - Producer
  • Stephen Duffy - Writer, Harmony Vox (Duran Duran, Lilac Time, Dr. Calculus, Me Me Me, The Devils, Hawks, Subterranean hawks, Vanity Project, Tin Tin, Idha, Saint Etienne, SW9, Robbie Williams, Michele Stodart, Diane Tell, Slingbacks, Nigel Kennedy, many)
  • Lloyd Puckitt - Engineer
  • Greg Leisz - Pedal Steel Guitar, Dobro (Charles Lloyd, Marvels, Funky Kings, All Star Band, Watkins Family Hour, Works Progress Administration, Rosie Flores, Jack Tempchin, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Todd Snider, Lucinda Williams, Dwight Yoakam, Syd Straw, k.d. Lang, Marshall Crenshaw, Matthew Sweet, Crash Test Dummies, Shawn Colvin, John Wesley Harding, Roxette, Chuck Prophet, Bash & Pop, Bad Religion, Percy Sledge, Pam Tillis, Julia Fordham, Bruce Cockburn, Joni Mitchell, Grant lee Buffalo, Jayhawks, Ricky Martin, Smashing Pumpkins, Susanna Hoffs, Joe Cocker, Beach Boys, Wilco, Dave Koz, Paula Cole, Fiona Apple, Gillian Welch, Beck, Lincoln, Murmurs, Whiskeytown, Adam Sandler, Vonda Shepard, Sheryl Crow, Randy newman, Tiger Army, Meshell Ndegeocello, Melissa Ethridge, Tonio K, Ventures, Brian McKnight, Wallflowers many
  • John Chumbris - Harmony Vox (Glory Fountain, Pinetops, Slickee Boys, Alaska, Jolene, Stratocrusier, Coronet Blue, Holden Richards, Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey)
  • Lynn Blakey - Harmony Vox (Glory Fountain, Holiday, Tres Chicas, Someloves, Pinetops, Caitlin Cary, Greg Hawks, Tremblers, Alejandro Escovedo, Chatham County Line, Evil Wiener, Holden Richards, Two Dollar Pistols, Jeff Hart, American Aquarium, Kenny Roby, Jeffrey Dean Foster, Chris Stamley, Stratocruiser, 
  • Mike Denneen - Flute, Strings, Chamberlin (Busload of Nuns, True Confessions, Big Dapper, Pat on the Back, Til' Tuesday, Lord Boy, Walkers, Blackwells, Letters to Cleo, Aimee Mann, Gigolo Aunts, Gus, Expanding Man, Jen Trynin, Talking to Animals, Buddy Judge, Merrie Amsterburg, Shelia Divine, Averi, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Loveless, Senor Hapy, Click Five many)
  • Wes Lachot - (Choo Choo Train, Flat Duo Jets, Swamis, Chris Stamey, Flying Pigs, PJ O[Connell, Fan Modine, Matt Barrett, Springfields, Gladhands, Holden Richards, Peter Holsapple, American Aquarium, Stars Explode, Jon Shain)
  • Greg Calbi - Mastering
  • Scott Litt - Mixing
Unknown-ness: I got this advanced cassette copy for a dollar back in the mid-late 90's, probably based on hearing their named dropped on MTV or read about them in CMJ Music Monthly, but i don't recall what the band sounds like. From the name & cover art, i imagine they are a pop band with garage and psych tendencies, as there is a 60's indie vibe to the art work, and velvet crush could be seen as either a clothing type worn in the psych world, or as appreciation of the Velvet Underground. On the other hand, with the album name mentioning god, and their small label name Creation, they might have underlying (or even outwardly) religious messages in the tracks. Is this Christian Rock?

Album Review: From the first couple of notes, they put out a strong garage power pop band vibe, with a little extra fuzz and feedback to keep one foot in the marketable alternative genre. They prove their versatility, with big Urge Overkill guitars on some tracks and alt-country slide guitar on others. My Blank Pages has a jangley electric hook that sounds like Michael Jackson's "Black or White."

Velvet Crush was formed in the Chicago-Champlain region as Menck & Chastain we friends between other bands and a few projects of their own. They moved to Rhode Island, where Velvet Crush was eventually formed. On the strength of a Teenage Fanclub cover, they found success with their first record, produced by Matthew Sweet, in the UK. This is their second record, first break-through for the US and first of two produced by Mitch Easter (named for Brian Wilson's description of SMiLe). They recorded up through 2004, but continue to perform reunion shows on occasion.

Stand Out Track: This Life is Killing Me, Weird Summer

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