To go and name
themselves Pop Gem Factory, and then to go and write such perfect little pop
songs, is the height of some post-modern ironic something or another. But get
this: Singer-songwriter Chris von Sneidern, along with bassist Salt Peter and
drummer Bennett Bowman, have put together solid, and sometimes stupendous,
strummy guitar pop without smart-ass irony or coy coolness. Not that everyone
plays detached, unemotional pop these days; quite a few sing and strum as
earnest as the dickens. But they usually suck. These guys don't. The first two
songs, "Open Wide" and "Sight & Sound," are simply the
brightest, chimiest pop songs since - not "Shiny Happy People" dammit!
- since the Byrds harmonized over Roger McGuinn's 12-string. von Sneidern's
voice is as pop-plaintive as one can get away with' backed with harmonies to
rival the Beach Boys, there isn't a smidgen of the irony that the band's name
portends. "Sight & Sound" is probably the catchiest melody that
I've ever heard. No kidding. I'm a total sucker, and I'm not sure why. Perhaps
it triggers something from my childhood, like the Partridge Family. Don't get
the wrong impression. This stuff ain't fluff. No throwaway lyrics, no cliched
treatments, even though the constant theme of relationships could easily have
led that way. And for those who don't dig the sweetness and light, there are
two moodier songs, "Somedays" and "The Ballad," without the
hooks of the first pair.
Alex Lash
Send tapes to Demo
Tape, Bay Guardian, 520 Hampshire, S.F., CA 94110.