The Rosenbergs
Mission: You
Discipline Global Mobile
The New York-based Rosenbergs put it all together on their debut record for Robert Fripp’s Discipline Global Mobile label. After a couple of years of being touted as one of the best unsigned bands in America, the power-pop quartet delivers the goods in spades: the guitar crunch, great hooks and nice harmonies. Fans of bands like Fountains of Wayne, The Posies, and Jellyfish will find plenty to love here.
The record opens with a little girl singing “Ring Around the Rosie,” before crashing into the first tune, “Sucking On a Plum.” Between plenty of melodic “bop-bops” and “nah-nah-nahs,” the band shifts tempos and stops and starts with aplomb. Singer/guitarist David Fagin comes up with a classic goofy nonsequitur, “If you and me have sex could we keep it all together/I hear your dog’s named Rex. Did you knit him a sweater?” “Paper and Plastic” has another killer chorus. It also begins an invasion of new wave keyboards which continues for the rest of the record and which adds to the Fountains of Wayne comparison. “In Pursuit” is perhaps the perfect melancholy pop song, with terrific guitar work and a nice Fagin vocal. “Drug Of Choice” sounds a bit like Jellyfish’s “The King is Half Undressed.” “Fast Asleep” adds a touch of sunny, Supergrass-like Brit-pop. “Soaked In Polyester” is reprised from their previous indie release Ameripop. The pounding drums and extra guitar crunch make it the hardest rocking number here, and perhaps the band’s best chance at a modern rock hit. Fortunately, it’s also a great song that you wouldn’t mind hearing on the radio. The record concludes with a seven minute, dreamy Pink Floyd-like tune called “Overboard.”
