They're gonna be big stars - By Kathy Mar From Wall Of Sound
It's been almost five years since the last Gigolo Aunts release, 1994's Flippin' Out. Released during alt-rock's salad days, the band got lumped in with that genre in part because of timing, in part because of a clever video. Though it fared moderately well at the time, presumably the group never became as big as label expectations, as that was its first and final release for RCA. There was, however, a Gigolo Aunts EP released on independent label Wicked Disc in 1997.
During the hiatus between full-lengths, the Gigolo Aunts took some time to perfect their songcraft. And craft they did. With the support of Counting Crow mega-fan Adam Duritz — who liked the Boston lads so much he signed them to his label E Pluribus Unum — the band has created an album that would make the patron saint of sensitive songwriters, Alex Chilton, proud.
Several songs, in fact, are reminiscent of the master. "Fade Away" and "Simple Thing" expose a wistful air through delicately hewn music and rueful lyrics, while "Super Ultra Wicked Mega Love" just plain rawks. On other occasions, as in "For a Moment" (from whose lyrics the album derives its title), singer Dave Gibbs recalls the heart-wrenching understatement of Elliott Smith.
The malaise-driven "Everything Is Wrong," find Gibbs wending seamlessly between a '70s pop beat — complete with righteous guitar solo — and a dejected chorus, with singing equal to each, aided by simple lyrics that cut to the chase.
The standout track on the album has to be "The Big Lie," which features the lead Crow along with Fountains of Wayne singer Adam Schlesinger on backing vocals. Beneath its glimmer of fast, furious, catchy guitar work and go-go chorus the singer explains that even though he "can charm the skin right off a snake," he'll never live up to the other person's expectation of him. "You see everything you think I might be/ Everything that you could want, everything you've never had, anything that you could need/ … is something I could never be." At last, an anthem for those who don't fulfill their potential!
Marked by straightforward lyrics, stellar musicianship, and 3-D harmonizing, the Gigolo Aunts strike a fine balance between slow and fast, soft and loud, and Minor Chords and Major Themes.