-=- SHGZ -=-
* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Ambient * Ethereal *
Artist..: All Natural Lemon And Lime Flavors
Album...: All Natural Lemon And Lime Flavors
GENRE....: Indie
STYLE....: Shoegaze, Space Rock, Alt. Rock, Ethereal, Ambient
LABEL....: Gern Blandsten SCENE.....: 2015-02-06
BITRATE..: 263 kbps avg STORE.....: 2000-00-00
ENCODER..: LAME 3.98.4 -V0 TRACKS....: 12
SIZE.....: 76.16MB SOURCE....: CD
URL..:
- TRACKLIST
1 Muffin 57 2:49
2 Saturn Jig 4:53
3 Salad Forest 3:52
4 All The Time 2:48
5 Jayne Baby 2:55
6 String Of Stars 4:05
7 How Come? 3:42
8 Tea With Honey 3:31
9 Nice Soup 3:02
10 Yellow 2:27
11 Blue Balloons 2:45
12 Wondered Why 3:23
Total Playtime: 40:12
Bio:
All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors revolved around the two-fold songwriting and
musical genius of childhood friends Steven Doherty and Joshua Booth. The
other members added the icing on the heavily layered cake, but the true heart
lay in Doherty's and Booth's incredible sense of pop hooks married with a
taste for the experimental. All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors have been
compared to My Bloody Valentine and Stereolab. But unlike the aforementioned
artists, "L&L" hail from New Jersey of all places.
First appearing in 1996 (then reissued four years later with extra tracks),
the self-titled debut CD found the quintet in more direct form than on later
outings. It's another of many American releases that show that dream pop
didn't die, it just switched continents. In 1998 they released Turning Into
Small, garnering some positive reviews and endorsements from respected
artists such as Cornelius. They toured and gained a small, but growing cult
following helped by the exposure of playing with other artists on the Gern
Blandsten roster such as Chisel, The Van Pelt, and The Rye Coalition.
Longtime Gern affiliate Alap Momin had been their recording engineer since
1994 and his new project, dalek would prove to have a significant impact of
the recordings.
Straight Blue Line, a collection of early U.S. singles and previously
unreleased tracks came along after the band had already called it a day in
2000. Members have continued to create music with If When, dalek, and Jett
Brando.
*
If there was ever a good time to be a shoegaze band, the 90Æs were it. BandÆs
like My Bloody Valentine, Galaxie 500 and Ride were prominent in those days,
along side many other acts. More towards the middle of the decade, a band
that never quite reached any sort of mainstream success started to emerge out
of the shadows of New Jersey, and they were known as ôAll Natural Lemon &
Lime Flavorsö. That name is quite a mouthful, too. The band formed originally
back in 1993, when memberÆs Josh Booth and Steve Doherty left their first
band ôSenepedeö to pursue other ideas. This led them to form ôAll Natural
Lemon & Lime Flavorsö, who remained active until the year 2000.
Their debut LP, the self-titled ôAll Natural Lemon & Lime Flavorsö record,
was originally released in 1996. This album would mark the beginning of the
band, who are sometimes referred to as ôL&Lö just to keep things simple. The
album, originally released with only 8 tracks, was later reissued to include
four more songs, which is the copy I am listening to today. The album kicks
off with the short but very sweet ôMuffin 57?. The song begins with the
squeal of the guitar, and shortly after the rest of the band joins in. Around
the 20 second mark the lead guitar joins, and itÆs pretty much a done-deal
after that. That catchy lead guitar hook sticks around for the duration of
the song, guiding us through the final moments. Then it turns into that
jangly, chicken-scratch of a guitar solo that brings us to the end of the
song. Moving on to the longest track from the album, ôSaturn Jigö kicks off
with that ôwahh-wahhö sound that is reminiscent to the parents when they
speak in Charlie Brown. Immediately after youÆre thrown into a mess of heavy,
swirling guitar thatÆs enough to make your head spin. Then they take a step
back and youÆre in the middle of that mysterious verse, complete with those
ôwahh-wahhö sound effects and the intimidating tap of the hi-hat.
During the album youÆll find many mysterious sounds and crazy voices, and it
all works wonders for their hazy yet clear sound. Looking back on it, they
all tend to have that crisp, refreshing sound. That being the case, itÆs no
question how they landed on their band name û just think Sprite, with itÆs
refreshing, crispness. All Natural Lemon and Lime Flavors showcases a
fantastically refreshing sound that balances on a fine line between
mysterious space rock and in-your-face experimental rock and roll.
*
First appearing in 1996 and then reissued four years later with extra tracks,
the debut All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors release found the quintet in
slightly more direct form than would be apparent on later releases, like
Turning Into Small. The basic approach of the band is still the same, though
-- shoegaze, and lots of it. The queasy/sweet vocals, the cascading chug of
guitars and drums, the neo-psychedelic head-nodding pace, and the overall
atmosphere -- it's all there in spades. The group isn't My Bloody Valentine,
but then few could be, and if the inspirations are all perfectly clear, the
end results are still perfectly enjoyable, though those not automatically
enthralled by this strain of music won't find anything to change their mind.
When at its best, the album pumps up everything to very much resemble any
feedback-overdriven release on Creation circa 1990 -- check out "Saturn Jig,"
with the keyboard drones and burbles adding to the huge bursts of effect
pedal goodness and sighing, buried vocals. Other obvious nods include the Boo
Radleys' blend of wistful sweetness on the acoustic guitar bliss of "Salad
Forest," the circular conclusion of "String of Stars," tremolos used and
abused to full effect, and the epic slow grind and sigh of "Blue Balloons."
There are instances of them trying something else and showing a definite
sense of humor, though -- thus the semi-classic rock/funk stomp of "Jayne
Baby," which starts with a Beatles quote and might or might not be about
Jayne Mansfield. At other points, where they are clearly fooling around with
using the stereo as an instrument, check the odd levels and simultaneously
upfront and distance mix on the fantastic "How Come." Meanwhile, the
in-between song snippets of random noise and studio chatter show evidence of
actual arrangement instead of just being there for the heck of it.
-=- SHGZ -=-
P.S.
** Thanks ***
*** BCC FNT IPC SSR ***
*** For Knowing Where The Music Is At ***
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* NuHS we miss you! *
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