THE WITCH HAZEL SOUND
This World, Then the Fireworks (Hidden Agenda)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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It's bubblegum of the sweetest, softest, most flavorful variety, complete with the "la la la la" backing vocals, sunshine day harmonies and happy melodies, but there's something more going on here. You may awaken at the end of the CD having heard every word and feel as though you've just returned from 1970, where you apparently smoked some serious doobage. Just because it's gum doesn't mean it can't be some of the dreamiest psychedelia of the year, as well. It's set apart by the instrumentation, in particular the trumpet melodies of Jason Richardson, atypical of the genre yet just what the songs seem to call for. The voice of Mark F. has a dreamy quality that adds to the laid back feeling you'll get from This World, Then The Fireworks. The only criticism I have of this album is that a few of the songs, lacking solid ideas for endings, just fade out very suddenly. Others fade out similarly as the next song fades in and that works fine, but the ones I'm referring to just seem to die with their tail ends hanging uncomfortably in empty space. I'm a bit surprised the producer (guitarist and keyboardist Kevin Coral) didn't at least slow the fades down so they didn't leave the listener thinking "ah, didn't have an ending, eh?" Frankly, though, the album is so damned fine I just don't care. I wince when those go by, but I'm over the initial shock and well into my lovefest with the rest of the music.

© 2002 - DJ Johnson