THE STEINWAYS
– Gorilla Marketing (Cold Feet)
Yes It's A Pop Punk Classic
By Jim Testa
Show biz people say that comedians say funny
things, but comics say things funny. Grath Madden
comes about as close as anyone I can think of
to a pop-punk comic genius, and his dry self-deprecating
wit has never been sharper than on the Steinways’
long-awaited second full-length. Gorilla
Marketing could easily have been titled
“27;” it’s a concept album
of sorts about the existential angst of a late-twentysomething
- shitty temp jobs, pathetic sex life, and no
prospects of anything getting better anytime
soon. What could have been whiney and self-indulgent
in less capable hands emerges as lively, goofy
fun with the Steinways, though, as Grath complains
about his band, his job, and his love life in
about equal measure. Grath does step out of
his own self-referential rut on a few tracks,
like the teenage lament “Nobody Wants
To Make Out With Me (Because I Wear Sweatpants,)”
which might have been written by King Dork
protagonist Sam Hellerman. And while the woe-is-me
theme of “Oh, Angela” might be familiar,
it finds Madden breaking out his usual chugga-chugga
songwriting pattern for what could pass as one
of Joe Queer’s melodic power-pop gems.
Another standout track, “Attaching Transmittals
To Erection Drawings,” rants against crappy
temp jobs (and lack of career goals,) and includes
the classic line “and now a little money’s
a whole lot of spent.” Guitarist Ace chimes
in with two gems on which he sings lead, the
romantic misadventure “Oh My Fucking Gosh”
(a live favorite for a while now,) and the aptly-titled
“Good Grief,” in which Aces notes
that he has about the same luck dating as Charlie
Brown. And it’s nice to hear bassist Michelle
coming out of her shell and adding more vocals
here. Of course, nothing’s ever perfect;
this is still The Steinways, so yes, there are
the requisite 60-second throwaway pop-punk ditties,
which are always good for a chuckle but always
leave me wanting more. Still, it’s good
to hear Grath working up many of his songs into
fuller, longer, more fully-realized compositions.
I honestly don’t think the guy knows how
good he is; but considering how little else
he has going for him, my advice is simple: Dude,
fuck the day job; don’t give up your band.
 Hold
On A Sec, It's Good But....
By Dick Nothing
Ah, the Steinways, one of my favorite underground
bands in New York right now. Everything this band
has put out thus far has been golden, which is
why I have a love/hate relationship with Gorilla
Marketing. Before I endeavor to expand on why,
let it be stated that what I am dealing with here
is a classic case of the confused sophomore album:
The kind which wants to retain the charm of its
debut but to also connect with a whole new audience.
The end result is a messy platter of failed experiments
and some killer summer anthems.
These guys still know how to draw in a listener
with their opener. The inappropriately titled
"Arena Rock" ticks all the right boxes.
Infectious leads with playful, bouncing lyrical
hooks are a relief and brace for what is to be
a bumpy ride. To rival Grath’s captivating
inaugural tune, Ace pulls off a stunner of a chant-a-long,
"Oh My Fucking Gosh," which pays homage
to the Ramones in its genius simplicity. On the
flipside, a more obscure influence creeps in with
the standout "Oh, Angela," where the
guitars echo those of the underrated garage-pop
outfit, Superchunk. Moreover, the album suddenly
becomes more varied in the latter tracks. "Make
Out," a choppy mechanical-sounding freakout,
sits besides "CGI," which starts off
sounding like this album's "Dear Girl"
but progresses into something outstanding, albeit
inferior.
The more negative aspects are petty, but somehow
manage to stick out like a thorn. The most noticeable
example is the lack of cohesion demonstrated in
parts of Grath’s writing. It’s a mystery
how craftily worded verses such as "You just
keep on talking, but I don’t wanna hear
it, ‘cause I’m getting sick and tired
of this teenage bullshit" could possibly
regress to "girl oh girl oh girl I want a
girly girl." If it’s a joke, I’m
not laughing. It often feels that a structure
I once adored has been trivialized. It should
be noted that the criminally boring and plodding
"Manhattan Boots" should be used for
torture purposes only, and that it boggles my
mind that more people haven’t hailed "The
400th Blows" as a standout cut. I also can’t
help but notice the horrendously thoughtless sequencing
on this album. It is apparent that the work ethic
of producing a careful and considered arrangement
has been overlooked in this instance – I
swear they’ve just shuffled the tracks on
Windows Media Player… Or did they just pull
them out of a hat or something? Talk about anti-climax!
Oh, and Michelle can’t sing, but she knows
the workings of a pop song like the back of her
bra.
While it is a shock to the system to encounter
only a near perfect effort from this wonderful
pop-punk quartet after a torrent of absurdly
addictive releases, it would be rather academic
to compare it to the urgency of its predecessors
at such an early stage in their "career."
As strange a concept as this may seem: Gorilla
Marketing is a flawed album which you need to
rush out and buy right now! I still have the
highest expectations of this group, and I can
say with the utter most honesty that at this
point I feel that the style of their sound is
something potentially immortal, but still in
somewhat of an embryonic stage. But hey, this
is the Steinways I’m talking about; if
they brought out a set of gardening tools and
carved their name into them, I would sell my
body to acquire it.
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