Disco de The Apples In Stereo: “Fun Trick Noisemaker”

At the risk of excess hyperbole I'll tell prospective buyers of this album that if they love perfectly crafted pop and rock, this is the record they must own. Forget the predictable criticism that this band wears their influences on their sleeves; I dare anyone to find a more sweet, wistful, utterly listenable album from 1995, or from any year in the past decade. Favorite tracks are the sublime "High Tide," the peppy "Tidal Wave," the dreamy "Pine Away," and most importantly "She's Just Like Me" which is one of the truly beautiful songs of our era. Highly, highly, highly recommended. If great bands like this can come out of Denver who knows what other geniuses lurk between the overhyped coasts?

I am not an expert on this band yet; I own 3 albums- the other 2 being Science Faire and Tone Soul Evolution, and contrary to popular opinion 'Fun Trick' is the creamiest so far, trust me. Although the reviews seem to favor 'Tone Soul', take a listen and you'll see I'm right.

In 'FTN', you can tell the band is influenced by certain sounds of the 60s, but as opposed to 'TSE', they always keep it sounding original. Although Tone Soul is a good album and has some tasty bits to keep you coming back, overall the album isn't nearly as original. Some of it comes out sounding too close to the Monkees, or some other band from the mid to late sixties who caught on a little too late to be hip, ending up sounding synthetic.

For instance, "Seems So," Tone Soul's first song, is just too happy- it almost sounds like something The Partridge Family would have done. Tracks like that were a little disappointing to me, considering that the sublime Fun Trick was my first Apples purchase. FTN to me doesn't venture that far into 60s-happyland. Although sounding retro, it keeps a hint of danger lacking in some of TSE, with hard-driving, sinister guitar riffs; always catchy and original- and yes, fun.

That's not to say Tone Soul Evolution isn't worth getting, it definitely is, but as a starter you may want to consider Science Faire, or better yet, the tastiest dessert treat the Apples in Stereo have to offer--- Fun Trick Noisemaker.

Long live original music and praise the death of today's silly circus performers (who call themselves 'bands' and are somehow recognized by the music industry as important), whenever it comes.

The Apples in Stereo are a great change of pace from the repetative, melancholy whining that can plague indie rock. This album denounces sterotypes while admitting that it has been influenced by classic sounds from yesteryear. But most of all, it just makes you happy. Listen to it whenever you begin to take life a little too seriously.

Fun, I will agree with that part of the album title, but you need to be careful how often you play this disc, it can get old fast. Never heard The Apples in Stereo? They have a similar feel to that of "Pavement" playing the greatest hits of the Go Go's or "Cracker" playing School house rock. It's happy it's fun, it's not going to challenge you musically. It might be just what the doctor ordered, it might be like the same joke that made you laugh in grade school. Oh yeah, I remember when milk shot out of my nose.

There is a fantastic retrospective on the Elephant 6 collective on the great Sound Opinions podcast. That was my first exposure to this album, which has quickly become one of my favorites. Note that this is the identical review for the Olivia Tremor Control's equally terrific "Music From the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle".