“rentals”
The Rentals
Seven More Minutes
Maverick
“Friends of P” was permanently etched into my brain after one listen, but there’s nothing on Seven More Minutes that has that kind of power. Instead, I get the impression that the Rentals overdosed on Sgt. Pepper’s before recording Seven More Minutes . While there’s certainly nothing wrong with good, catchy, Beatlesque pop, there are a million other bands playing that gig. Thankfully, the Rentals’ take is more fresh and original than that of the likes of Oasis. The most Beatle-like tracks, such as “She Says It’s Alright,” “The Man With Two Brains,” and “Big Daddy C.” (which features Blur’s Damon Albarn on vocals), still manage to go well beyond lavish imitation. The Moog hooks and effects that were so omnipresent in their earlier work are back in force on tracks like “Getting By” and “The Cruise,” and plentiful female background vocals, especially on songs like “Barcelona,” further serve to distinguish the band from the slew of Fab Four wannabes. Still, it’s telling that my favorite song here, “My Head is in the Sun,” was co-written by Matt Sharp’s old Weezer bandmate, Rivers Cuomo. Don’t get me wrong, Seven More Minutes isn’t a bad record – to the contrary, I find it grows on me a little more with each listen – just don’t expect to be immediately grabbed the way you were by “Friends.”
