Posted on November 17, 2010 - by Mark Zonda

What’s What I Call Anthony NOW

By professing that Anthony Rochester is a fucking pop genius I guess that not a listener would argue. I was literally blown away by his past work  “Music For In The Spaceship”, resembling to me quite an Australian male response to early Cardigans – that meant a lot to me.  I had the chance to collaborate with this guy from Hobart on the making of KinGem Records projects U.N.DISCO and Kitty Kitten Kristmas, and I was really fascinated by the whole idea of how his life would have changed once he decided to cross the sea to live in The States.

Well, I felt really assured listening to his new work that luckily enough nothing changed. Even more! We’re now stuck definitely in the past! Way back when I actually started to listen to Cardigans, the album is really intitled “Hot Hits ’96″, inexplicably being not a collection of songs neither demos rescued from some shelf back from more than a decade ago (thinking that I was actually already listening to great music at that time and I’m still having a  regular weekend nightlife is quite scary).

The whole album is really catchy and intriguing, and Anthony is able to play all the instruments you’re hearing in his songs. Moreover his cleaver ability to build improbable lyrics on the most awkward topics succeeded in hooking my attention all album long while I was driving keeping my finger still on the wheel right away even from the remote idea of abusing of the skip taste.

Just like George Harrison, Anthony Rochester is able to grab inspiration from everything standing in front of his sight. Guess that’s why the first choice on opening the album felt on “You’re a singer now”, halfway between a reflection and a pun on nowadays status of being a Pop singer.  We got a dreamy atmosphere, jingle-jangle-jamaican guitars and swingy drums that would make Snoopy dance for weeks after the music is over.

“Friend request manager” it’s more “more automatic for the people”  with  possibly the most catchy tune a man could  have ever written on MySpace and  this modern times no-economy web dynamics, when music leads no more money but maniacs at your virtual doors. Musically speaking – and trying to detach from the lyrics – it’s hard to thing to other pop musicians able to write such sophisticated and soft arrangements in our indie days. The only propblem with the song is that it’s… too short!

I do say that “At Kingston Beach”, half away between Morricone and the most obscure Bowie, came completely unexpected (a great track, Damon Albarn would have shit loads of money out of it), and while the king of “Even your retail prices won’t keep me away” is really Anthony brand new old Hammond Organ, possibly and eventually afraid of Wilson Bros choirs, my favourite Queen is to be found in the tropical casio-pop of – guess what – “Fredrikstad Canada”.

Album closes with “Positivity Man”, a slow ballad bringing our hero on a noisy dusty road just to find enough space to turn his teramine in a spaceship to escape once again into space, leaving us with the hope next album will be produced by NASA.

Let it ring on...

• Rochester Theme (1)
• U.N.DISCO Time (0)
• Crayon Fields Forever (0)
• Happy with China (0)
• Summer Cats! (0)