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03/10/04
It was the sunniest, driest, most gorgeous day of spring we?d had all year. I was just getting over a weeklong illness that laid me up in bed for days. I?d just gotten back from the local flea market with a one dollar score of a ?70s painting of a hip girl and guy dancing it up mod style. And now Andy, Kat, and I were headed to an outdoor rock and roll show. I was smiling like a motherfucker.
As we cruised down Main Street of Kutztown I blasted Travoltas? Party. It?s low volume acoustic sounds, summertime vibe, Beach Boys covers and partyriffic atmosphere make it the perfect low-key summertime album, especially in a car occupied by two non-punkpunks.
I was skeptical of this thing from the beginning. A live acoustic recording at a party seemed cool enough, but there?s three or four covers and a bunch of Travoltas songs I already know, so I figured it would have nothing new to offer. Thankfully I was very wrong. This is live and recorded at a party, but what you gotta read to find out is that the party was held in a recording studio. Duh. What you at first stupidly thought would sound like a rusty tin box, sounds like a sterling silver platter instead. The vocals are up front and the harmonies are layered and beautifully intact. The guitars thump on your ears like a mid-summer?s rain on a hot night. The covers are fun, including ?That Thing You Do,? the awesome early ?60s-inspired hit from the movie of the same name. The Beach Boys covers are fun and inspired and the new versions of The Travoltas? own songs are unique enough to make them seem fresh and listened to for the first time.
This is the perfect introduction to The Travoltas, you get a bit of a taste for their influences and get to hear some of their best tracks rerecorded in a fun party atmosphere (ala The Beach Boys own party album, of which this is spinning off) with glasses clinking, friends laughing and talking, and those wondrous voices harmonizing while the many hands clap along. The only thing better than listening in is most likely to have actually been there with the boys when they were strumming out the tunes.
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