Hello Stranger reviewed
Hello Stranger
Hello Stranger
(Aeronaut)
Just think: Instead of Paris Hilton, you could have had Juliette Commagere.
That’s not a knock on Hello Stranger’s perky vocalist, but a reference to what almost became of the band when they were being courted by major labels. According to the bio, A&R men suggested she abandon playing an instrument onstage so she could be freed up to gyrate. They also apparently were offering the band outsider songs to cover, one of which was “Screwed,” later accepted by Hilton. While the story of Hello Stranger has more to it (drummer Joachim Cooder’s dad is the legendary Ry, who also produced here), the album doesn’t brood take issue with being told their songs weren’t good enough. Their self-titled debut is like Garbage without the angsty guitars (“Take It To The Maxx”), cheeky enough to acknowledge “My Sharona” (“Here We Go Again”), and bilingual (“Es Tu Vida”). At 52 minutes it’s laden with extra weight, but they’d be happy to retort if people think they didn’t make enough decisions, at least someone else wasn’t doing it for them.
— Steve Forstneger
Appearing: September 27th at Double Door in Chicago.
Click here to download “Take It To The Maxx.”
