New review from Spain!

Thanks Oscar Garcia!! Oscar writes a killer rock blog called “Kick Out The Jams” – it’s in Spanish (he’s from the Catalan region of Spain) http://oscarkotj.blogspot.com/2010/07/modeens.html

Here’s a translation (I left some of the phrasing as it literally translates to ‘Spanish’ – so it may seem a little disjointed at times – but I think it’s charming!):

The Modeens are a duo formed by Cristina Williams (bass and voice) and Jamie Laboz (guitars, organ and voice). Each had a career on their own until their paths crossed in the Big Apple. From one coast to another, they landed in Los Angeles, and then from the city of stars to the deserts of Arizona, where they decided to create this band with the help of J Fen Ikner on drums.

The result of their passion for psychedelic and garage bands of the golden era of the sixties, this album is born in which they invite you to take a stroll through these sounds – reborn in the 90’s with vintage instruments [Ed. I think he may have meant reborn in this decade?] – in a collection of ten songs of their own creation. Their sound is in accordance with our current times but without staying put in one single era nor with a sound of just imitating.

The record starts with a beat rhythm that owes as much to Bo Diddley as to the great organ players of the “swinging” beat in “Tumbleweed”; in “The Day Will Come” they give typical garage sounds articulated in two voices; they distill R&B in “Thang” to enjoy together with the classics of the Pretty Things or Downliners Sect. Later on they go into the studio of Joe Meek and ask “Where are the Spacemen?” while with pyschedelic effects they play two luminous different versions of “Sonic Daydream”; at half tempo and without ceasing to play psychedelic, they set an eye on the Byrds in “Better Late Than Never”; they cover the classic of Graham Gouldman, “Heart Full of Soul” and create a great version. Without going over one single influence and with doses of rock and roll and western, they create “Showdown” and they close with “Zombie Girl” where the Martians’ effect (hitting surfing sounds) create a great theme that without doubt will make wild all the lovers of Man or Astroman?

This is a record that, once you’ve decided to pay attention to its title, is impossible to stop listening to.