It's Down to This Band's Remarkable Songs and Hugely Engaging Performances
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“MUSIC YOU NEED TO DOWNLOAD NOW - #2 ‘Hide Another Mistake’ Yet another young Los Angeles band (Giant Drag, the Willowz) with a charming swagger, the 88 shift a robotic riff into a sunny chorus like a garage-rock Beach Boys.“ • “Blissfully billowy instrumentalism, bounteous hooks, and vocals that manage to be both reclusive and seductive at the same time, The 88’s whimsical debut evokes English shagadelia better than, well, better than a lot of the Brits themselves do these days.” - Lina Lecaro • “Keith Slettedahl belts out sweet melodies atop a contagious hip-swaggering backdrop” - Nora Cranley “IF YOU LIKE the artsier side of THE KINKS, work 'em out with up-and-coming L.A. band THE 88, who occasionally sound like Davies dead ringers...” - Chris Wilman “Songs are melodic and full of hooks, with expertly offbeat arrangements and playing…” - Maureen Droney • "The power pop prodigy has the mix of heart and craft that can yield great rock... reveals in the old-fashioned notion that a little pop record can be as grand as a cathedral." - Richard Cromelin • "And The 88, known for its Kinks-sized rock and "Reservoir Dogs" inspired attire, is expected to draw considerable label interest when it finishes its current album." - Steve Hochman • “The 88 won over many fans of indie singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, who had heard the CD and asked the group to open an Orange County show and back him on a couple of numbers. Such songs as "Melting in the Sun" and "Sunday Afternoon" have garnered comparisons to The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and The Kinks. The 88 fit neatly among such diverse acts as The Strokes, The White Stripes...” - Natalie Nichols • “This pop-rock band is always full of energy.” - Karla S. Blume • “The 88...exuberantly breathed life into Kinks-derived power-pop” - Steve Hochman “Pop-Rock band on the rise…” - Karla S. Blume “Yes, 88 singer/guitarist Keith Slettedahl channels Ray Davies remarkably well, but Kind of Light is more than a simple Village Green Preservation Society redux. By mixing sun-fried Hollywood sensibilities and a debt to the Band into a rich, orchestral sound, the 88 deliver an accomplished debut. Guitars, pianos and sunny vocal harmonies compete for attention on the elegantly bright "Elbow Blues," while "Afterlife" turns woozy and watery with slide guitar and rhythmic swagger. Plenty of English groups have drawn liberally from American R&B and soul. But with its strong roots in Americana and an eye toward both the Sixties and Nineties British Invasions, Kind of Light shines as an assertion that turnabout is fair play.” - Mark Woodlief "These guys could teach a boatful of champion anglers a few things about hooks…” - Tim Sendra "...glorious collection of 60's inspired rock, with hooks packed into nearly each of its 45 minutes." - Todd Martens • “Their songwriting and recording chops - displayed so refreshingly self-confident here - beg not the question where have they been for the last few years, but to what destination they’re traveling.” - Andi Meek • “...kudos to frontman Keith Slettedahl for making them sound so simultaneously charming and potent, not to mention showing off an arena- worthy voice that'll stop you dead in your tracks one moment then sing you to sleep the next. - Grant Shellen "...true pop gems...everything you want in a hit song - danceable, emotional, cheery little ditties impossible not to bounce to or sing along with at top volume in your car." - Jessica Hundley (NY, LA, SF) - "...full of energy, swerving from the straight-ahead rock of ‘How Good It Can Be’ to the grunge-lite balladry of ‘Kind of Light’ to the keening country-rock of ‘No Use Left for Me’ (which calls to mind the Kinks circa Muswell Hillbillies) to the horn-driven orchestral pop of ‘Melting in the Sun.’ - Jeremy Horelick “Singer Keith Slettedahl has a pleasingly off-kilter voice and a sharp ear for hooks. On “All The Same” from their debut “Kind of Light,” the results are exhilarating.” - Steven Mirkin • “It's down to this band's remarkable songs and hugely engaging performances. The 88 are soaked to their songwriting gills in some of the best music made in the half-decade before they were born: lotsa late-'60s Kinks, some early Band, a bit of Dylan. Bandleader Keith Slettedahl has a gorgeous honey-and-almonds voice that breaks uncannily like Ray Davies'… Impossibly solid; hard to believe the band's upcoming Kind of Light is their debut.” - Jay Babcock • “Lush ‘n’ layered rock never fails to hypnotize.” - Lina Lecaro • “Keith Slettedahl has pipes, and the naked pop of The 88 is going to be huge.” - Liam Gowing • "The live-music segment of the evening’s entertainment was brought to a climax by the Kinksian jump of the 88” - John Payne • “Keith Slettedahl is a high-wattage lightning rod for the rubber soul of John Lennon and Ray Davies.” - Liam Gowing by Jay Babcock NEAR THE END OF THE 88's BRILLIANT DEBUT, Kind of Light, at the coda to "Melting in the Sun," the band kicks into a primo piano-horn-rhythm boogie groove straight out of the Stones' "Loving Cup." More homage than rip-off, the lift is the kind of deceptively simple, in-the-pocket playing that can't be faked. And it says three things: These guys are confident, these guys are having a good time, and these guys have some older brothers with cool record collections. On the evidence of Kind of Light, and The 88's recent ecstatically received month long Monday-night residency at Spaceland, it's clear the elder Slet- tedahl did the right thing. This is the real dadrock: highly melodic, superbly crafted rock that's neither ashamed of nor intimidated by its heritage. The 88's songwriting, arranging and playing are so assured, in fact, that the question is where these guys have been for the last decade. The answer is multiple: shyness, a late-blooming talent, a serious drug problem, a true recovery and a timely recent infusion of work ethic. Along with Adam Merrin, The 88's multi-instrumentalist and producer, Slettedahl formed the first of two bands featuring drummer Mark Vasapolli and bassist Carlos Torres around 10 years ago. But it wasn't until five years ago that Slettedahl started to contribute his own songs to the group, then called the Freeloaders. "I didn't think I could write songs, even though that's all I wanted to do. I was terrified to play anything I wrote for anybody. I started showing them to 'em, but I would literally shake. Mark said, 'These sound kind of like the Kinks,' who I'd never heard. So I ended up buying Village Green Preserva- tion Society or Something Else, one of those two. And I flipped out. As fucked up as I was, and as sad as I was, I felt like I was 15 again." Slettedahl's abuse of hard drugs came to a head. "Needless to say, we broke up, and I went to get help. I said I'd never play with them again. I didn't even know if I wanted to play anymore. I was mad at everybody, but really, it was just me the whole time. After I got sober, slowly I started talkin' to Adam again. By that time I had a lot of songs written. I knew I could do it. That's where the Freeloaders started again." A CD of the band's unreleased songs began to circulate, attracting the interest of another classic-rock head, Silver Lake scene stalwart Brandon Jay (a.k.a. Quazar), who asked if they wanted a percussionist. "He started playing acoustic guitar and little shaker stuff," remembers Slettedahl. "We changed the band's name to The 88 at Brandon's suggestion — it's the title of a French Kicks song, and of course there's also 88 keys on the piano. Our work ethic had always been crap, but ever since Bran- don joined the band, we rehearse a lot harder and longer. He's amazing." Last year, the band finally sat down and started work on a proper album. We didn't have any plan whatsoever," laughs Slettedahl. "Adam made a list of all hundred or so songs that we had at the time, we recorded 20-something and then picked 13." SLETTEDAHL IS BLESSED WITH A VOICE THAT'S part Ray Davies with a twist of Lennon, and a superb, generous ensemble committed to song and arrangement rather than mere accompaniment or instrumental showboating. Listening to The 88 can be pleasantly overwhelming: an avalanche of hooks, riffs, melodies and backup harmonies. But this is more than Kinks-kopyist kraftsmanship — and anyway, Slettedahl's lyrics are more con- cerned with the personal than Davies' usual observationalism. In fact, if you listen to them closely enough, you'll hear exactly why Slettedahl and The 88 have taken so long to arrive. “...the kind of songs that’ll stay in your head like a brain tumour...three minute pop masterpieces...The album presents a band that’s ripe for an MTV invasion...simply one of the most talented bands the City of Los Angeles has produced in years.” - Charlie Amter • “Best Band in Los Angeles” - Best of LA issue • “The 88 posseses a refreshingly classic sound...catchy riffs and hooks...Their songs fit nicely between the bluesy rock of the White Stripes and the hyper-progressive sounds of Radiohead.” - Cynthia Dea “...punchy pop with tricky, inventive melodies.” - David Kronke “The 88’s songs are insinuatingly hooky; I haven’t been able to get the best songs on their album, Kind of Light, out of my head.