NHOI
Limited Edition (Unmotivated)
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes

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NHOI, or Never Heard Of It, is a rambunctious little power pop quartet from Covina, California that's just starting to break out of the garage and into the national spotlight.

For a band that's hand-made everything they've done so far (Unmotivated is their own label) they've done a real great job on Limited Edition. I like the lead cut "Alone" and there's a lovely anti-love song in "Veronica" (not to be confused with Elvis Costello's song), but what I think I like most about the band is their sense of humor. They do a No FX-style send up of "Build Me Up Buttercup" and the hidden track is a ten minute single mike ditty called "Tequila (My Best Friend)" that's the best drinking song I've heard in years. Limited Edition's full of punky spits and sparks yet they also do a nice acoustic number, "The Escape."

It's clear these guys know what they're doing. DJ Dell'osa belts out the vocals, Jeff Anenberg grinds on guitar, John Brittain holds his own on bass, but I think Mike Ciorlieri's drumming is really what Makes NHOI's songs hard to resist. This record has lots of jump.

Never Heard Of It was the only unsigned band on the Warped Tour this summer. They've already sold more than 20,000 copies of their three records (Limited Edition accounts for half of that) by brute force, everywhere from shopping malls, to Disneyland, to traffic jams, a job that didn't last because they now have a nationwide distribution deal. Let's hope their Chevy van keeps running long enough for them to hit the big time.

© 2002 - Rusty Pipes