Monday, February 27, 2006

EP of the Day: The Vandalays-Happy Ever After


Having already made a Seinfeld reference today, I suppose it's fitting that my EP of the day comes from Chicago's The Vandalays. Happy Ever After is the sequel of sorts to their 2004 release (re)begin, billed as the first power pop concept album. (Not sure whether or not they beat The Breakup Society's James at 35 to the punch; that power pop "concept" album bears a Feb 13 2004 release date, at least according to Pop Matters.)

In any event, Happy Ever After is a nice 6-song blast of power pop, kind of somewhere between Cheap Trick and Barenaked Ladies, with a touch of the Smithereens thrown in. Things start in fine fashion with the outstanding "Tracy", and "I'm Not Sleeping" and "Out/In The Night" keep the momentum going. But the highlight is the midtempo "Ramona", which jangles like there's no tomorrow.

The best place to sample it is at cd baby. Now when are The Von Nostrands going to release an album?

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