Higgins
"Zs" CD
Serious Business Records
Genre: pop, power pop
New York City
Dec 22, 2008 |
The triumphant Big Star guitar chords of "There He Is" signal the
beginning of Higgins' excellent Zs, perhaps the best record yet from
the standout Serious Business label. The songwriting project of Kevin
Fish, Higgins is a lovely pop band influenced by seventies-era
power-pop and AM radio fare. Although a hefty six band members make up
the core of the band, it is Fish's songwriting proficiency that has
led to such an extensively well-executed melodic result.
"Yes I Know," with its sterling guitars and wonderfully chiming
chorus, is one of the record's most memorable moments, while monster
epic "Charly" (complete with its own prelude) is a acid-drenched
psych-pop track soaked in dense guitars and rolling organs. On the
slower end of things, wistful "Write It Down" and "Ok" recall Third/Sister Lovers era
Big Star. Despite their existence in the
twenty-first century, Higgins harbours an unusually consistent
devotion to the music of yesteryear. Rarely does Fish integrate more
recent influences into Zs' eleven songs. Although "Wall Of Dumb"
reminds me distinctly of certain Magnetic Fields material, this
disc as a whole has a remarkably consistent 'classic' vibe. The only
other constant is the record's level of quality - Zs is an unquestionably
satisfying release, and one of the year's best at that. You know what
to do.
higgins'
myspace
88%
youuuuuuuutube!:
"jamy"
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 11 tracks, distributed by
the
label,
released Sep 9, 2008] |