Meligrove Band - Let It Grow

  by Jonjo McNeill

published: 25 / 3 / 2003

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Summer is nearly with us and The Meligrove Band have provided us with an excellent collection of sunny, breezy retro guitar pop to help soundtrack the long hazy days. A three piece hailing from Toronto, these boys like their harmonies, and the LP is brimful of Beach Boys style vocals, Beach Boys style guitars and Beach Boys style songs. There are worse influences to have, however, and most of the ten tracks on offer here are absolute gems. Opener ‘Monkey Mask’ is a riff heavy instrumental which could soundtrack any big screen car chase. When second track ‘Now Look What You’ve Done’ kicks in, visions of Ben Folds entered my head and, quite frankly, this worried me. All my fears were allayed however when ‘Check Your Messages’ began. It’s the kind of tune summer was designed for. A quirky Weezer-esque vocal joins with a heavy surf-guitar riff to create a breezy mini classic with my favourite lyric of the album "B-b-b-baby you were bad to the bone!" The noticeable influences begin to vary with increased listening – northern soul (‘Before We Arrive’), Mercury Rev (‘Dr. Moon & the Stars’) and, oh no, Ben Folds again (Really, Really, Really’). Overall though, this is an impressive debut from a young band showing great promise. If you don’t mind your pop retro (this certainly is) and you like a good harmony or ten, you should give this LP a spin, preferably wearing a pair of shorts on a beach. The Meligrove Band has reminded me that summer’s just around the corner, and I can’t wait.

Track Listing:-

1 Monkey Mask
2 Now Look What You've Done
3 Check Your Messages
4 Before We Arrive
5 Dr. Moon & the Stars
6 Along Comes a Smile
7 Really, Really, Really
8 The Day After Margaret
9 Take Me to the Sun
10 A Different Ship

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