MARK BACINO
The Million Dollar Milkshake (Parasol)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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Take the power part of the power pop from the bands that really turned your crank in the late 70s/early 80s, add the vocal sensibilities of the Rubinoos, then take that cool band you've just created and tell them not to be afraid to let their Partridge Family roots show for fleeting moments. It'd be hard to find a bunch of guys who could pull that off, so Mark Bacino does almost everything on his albums himself. The layers of vocals positively surround you as the song moves on by. Songs you remember right away, I might add. Bacino's writing skills are so good I don't see how he hasn't become, at the very least, someone elses invisible hit writing machine. Like Ed James, another great writer/singer/self-producer/everything artist, Bacino's so good it might be dangerous to form an actual band. Will it alter "the thing that makes it magic" or will it work out fine and give Bacino a chance to get out in front of live audiences and see what happens? Or maybe making these incredibly well crafted pop albums is all he needs to float his boat. I'll be tuned in to whatever it is he's doing, though, I can tell you that, because a serious pop junkie always knows where the dealers with the best stuff are.

© 2003 - DJ Johnson