Apples in Stereo: Tone Soul Evolution

Apples in Stereo: Tone Soul Evolution

1997

Sire Records/SpinArt/ Elephant 6

Format I Own it On: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Seems So  2. What's The #?  3. About Your Fame  4. Shine A Light  5. Silver Chain  6. Get There Fine  7. The Silvery Light Of A Dream  8. The Silvery Light Of A Dream (Part II)  9. We'll Come To Be  10. Tin Pan Alley  11. You Said That Last Night  12. Try To Remember  13. Find Our Way  14. Coda

Ohhhh, yes. I like this one. Totally 60's revival, yet manages to avoid the obvious Austin Powers parody sort of thing. Think the Beatles "Rubber Soul" as filtered through Brian Wilson's late 60's  guilelessness.

I first got into the Beatles during the late 90's and absorbed their entire output at a rapid rate. I listened to all their albums hundreds and hundreds of times and I wanted more, more, more! They had cast too long a shadow over all my other records, and nothing else seemed to do.

I came across this album and it served as a perfect bridge for getting over the Beatles and back into indie rock and other types of music again. "Seems So" and "You Said That Last Night" sounded just like lost 60's pop singles and I became obsessed with the beautiful psychedelic ballad, "The Silvery Light Of A Dream (Part II)." The production was immaculate, it has the slight patina of 90's lo-fi yet  nothing was out of place: silvery guitar leads, hand-claps, perfectly placed harmonies...

A lot of people seem to have a problem with front-man Rob Schneider's whimsical (and a bit nasally) vocals but I think it's perfect. I mean, he totally nails the difficult inflections required to make "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" work...



No, I'm just joking, here's the correct Robert Schneider...



But if for some reason if his relentlessly cheerful voice gets to you, then check out Hilarie Sidney's vocal turn during the swooning "Silver Chain." I  can understand the criticism that this is pretty lightweight stuff (particularly in the lyric department) and there's nothing even the slightest bit innovative here, but that doesn't really bother me.

I honestly don't see anything inherently wrong in indulging your nostalgia for  60's sunshine pop and constructing your own tribute. I for one, am glad someone did it!  Like I said, this works pretty well when you need something new to listen to after you burn through all your 60's albums. And then once you're into this, you can move onto the other bands in the like-minded  Elephant 6 collective (The Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal, etc.) and suddenly you have a whole new world of music to explore! Yay! 

And what does one serve to drink at their Friday Night  Record Party while listening to this sweetly psychedelic pop...



...That's right! Electric Kool-Aid!

While we're wigging out, let's reflect back on other notable events of 1997:



Insane UFO dealth-cult Heaven's Gate drinks the Kool-Aid and commits mass suicide...



When the authorities searched the bodies they discovered each member carrying a five-dollar bill and three quarters in their pockets, which turned out to be the fare to ride the UFO trailing the Hale-Bopp comet...Hey! That's cheaper than taking the Valley-Metro!



And the late great Steve Jobs reclaims his role as CEO of the Apples in Stereo...



...alright, I feel myself crossing the line into pure nonsense....That means I better stop for the day, but you can stick around and listen to "Seem So" by the Apples in Stereo....