STEPHANIE SAYS
Sex, Socialism and the Seaside (Grimsey Records)
Reviewed by Sherman Wick

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Stephanie Says have created a beautiful pop record. The group is Stephanie Winter, formerly of Twin Cities indie-pop band, The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group, who creates music with her friends from local bands the Owls, the Hang Ups, and the Carpetbaggers.

Winter's beautiful vocals are showcased with hushed and understated music. Songs such as "England" feature a lovely melody and a slight yet perfect arrangement from the alternating piano and bass fills to subtle guitar and bass lines. "Another Time" is a sadly upbeat song featuring lush guitars and chiming chamberlain. The band plays an infectious seventh chord riff -- revisited on their other compositions -- and a ska beat on "One of These Days." The rest of the record is consistently piquant. Let's hope the members involved find time in their busy schedules with numerous other bands to make another record, so their music doesn't become like the original songs, "Stephanie Says," by the Velvet Underground, and remain unreleased until almost twenty years after it was recorded.

© 2005 - Sherman Wick