Labels: self starter foundation
Review by: Andy Malcolm
I think I’ve been waiting two years for this. At least. I am pretty sure it’s been that long since the first mumblings that Eric Richter was singing in a new band surfaced. And now we have the first tangible fruits of 101’ness to enjoy – a mere 5 songs in a scant 12 minutes, and it flashes by. It’s not enough!
To introduce their sound, the 101 lean hard on crunchy, poppy melody drenched music and simple repetition. The elegance of he two minute pop song is their mainstray. The first track is “Psychotropic Love” which is a rhythm / bass driven rocker that seems to have it’s roots in something like Husker Du or maybe some Wire (that awesome “Dot Dash” song), it’s very simplistic yet effective with it (apart from the outro riff that sounds like Status Quo!!! Seriously!!! Sorry if I have now ruined this song for you). Eric’s vocals are as good as ever, just how you would want them to be – you can barely make out a word of what he is singing / mumbling. Perfection. Song two is one that I played to death on mp3, “Blossom”, and it is a gorgeous pop song that is basically like a condensed and poppier version of early Christie Front Drive. Beat that! The interplay of all four instruments (voice, bass, guitar and drums) is supreme. “6/8” is the simplest track on here, belting by in 1 minute and 43 seconds, the vocals are distorted and it basically repeats the same little section over and over. Good fun though it pales a bit next to the other stuff on here.
“Real” and “Let Them Sin” round things off in an enjoyably rocking fashion. Just leaves you wanting more really as these songs are there and gone again before you really get a chance to take them in.
Well, an album is really what these chaps need to do next. Also, I need to put this on a tape for the car. Straight away. And listen to it back to back to back to back to back…