ORANGES BAND
All Around (Lookout!)
Reviewed by Alan Wright

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I recently raved about the Oranges Band's debut Lookout! CD, On T.V., and so I was awaiting this, their first full-length CD on said label. I'm not disappointed in the least, in fact quite the opposite: it has far exceeded my expectations. These guys are really good, what with their cool fast-strummed rhythm guitar-based sound that certainly owes much to the Velvet Underground and the Feelies, but then they pile on these great fuzzy breaks and most of all, they rock. Aside from a remake of "My Street," one of my faves from the EP, this is all new stuff. They've expanded the instrumentation a bit from the simple guitars/bass/drums line-up on the EP to cool organ on songs like "All That Money (You'll Get Over It)" and "North Carolina," other likely more synth-based keys on songs like "Ok Apartment" and "Finns For Our Feet." "I'm Still Right (Still)" - the other remake from the EP - and "The Trees On My Street" feature saxophones and trumpets to good effect. Most of all though every single song on here is a winner. They're all infectiously catchy, and made an impression on me upon first listen, which is a rarity these days with my somewhat jaded ears.

© 2003 - Alan Wright