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From the Seattle Weekly, August 22, 2002...
THE BIGGER LOVERS
Common in many revered pop bands is that the companionship/competitiveness of their co-songwriters and singers proffers two bands for the price of one: Lennon and McCartney, Chilton and Bell, Ham and Evans, Holsapple and Stamey, Mould and Hart. And Bret Tobias and Scott Jefferson of Philadelphia's Bigger Lovers, whose sophomore effort equals last year's terrific debut, How I Learned to Stop Worrying, as a stylish, substantive slab of pummeling melodies and three-part harmonies. Produced by Thom Monahan (Scud Mountain Boys, Pernice Brothers, Beachwood Sparks), Honey in the Hive stars Tobias as the brusque Alex Chilton opposite Jefferson's silver-tongued Chris Bell, spiraling his guitar-fueled anthems through the powerful ("Half Richard's"), the celestial ("Don't Know Why"), and the spectral (the Stamey-like "They Haunt Me Still"). Tobias' snarling Radio City riff on "Bought Your Ghost" is a high point, but that's where the Big Star comparisons die. Thanks to Jefferson, the band more closely resembles a prudent Teenage Fanclub ("A Simple 'How Are You?'") or chivalrous Cheap Trick ("Make Your Day"). His (and the record's) signature song, "What Would It Take," drifts into Brian Wilson-land, with Pet Sounds verses that slam into the kind of soaring "aaah aaah aaah" chorus that made Badfinger so infectious. No new ground is broken on these 11 songs, but the Bigger Lovers wear their influences as a badge of honor and offer more proof that some of the best pop songwriters come in pairs.
Honey in the Hive
(Yep Roc)
Proving all the best pop bands come in twos.
SCOTT HOLTER