Smith Bros.
Columbus, Ohio, United States | SELF
Music
Press
A pearl! A gem! A simple find...out of the blue comes an explosive and
exciting new power pop band we had never heard of. Churning guitars,
soaring melodies and unerring hooks that pledge allegiance to the pop bible
and preach only light, refreshing and cool enjoyment! It's a well
balanced affair working in up-tempo songs at the right time, after the
mid-tempo ones hit their mark and move on. Imagine the Gin Blossoms
combined with Jason and the Scorchers and moody Big Star and
melodic Mother May I.
- Not Lame Recordings
Call out the genius patrol. Coming in at just under 1:45, "Lost" sets the
bar high in the in-and-out cough drop pop department. Not just another
pretty face, "Lost" tickles your soul with just enough Tele and tubes
feeling the heat. Serving suggestion: Run to see this band now, and
jump around like a nut in their tee shirts before the rest of the planet
catches on. Awesome.
- Kevin - the pop scout - indiepowerpop.com
SMITH BROS - RESTLESS
*****JUST OUT! This power pop band from OHIO is prime quality pop! The title track "Restless" for example, is a real jangle pop
delight! The whole cd is excellent...we're talking about TEENAGE FANCLUB, COSMIC ROUGH RIDERS,ELVIS COSTELLO, and BYRDS, ..
What a great disc, what a great band, what a great price, making this a really easy choice for you all! Great layered harmony vocals all
around and sweet tunes that deliver the goods! GRADE A
By jamrecordings.com - jamrecordings.com
The Smith Brothers latest CD, ‘Restless’ rises above the mark in power pop music perfection. Restless represents all that is good in music, beautiful harmonies, with sweet melodies, that bring to mind the Beach Boys, but don’t be fooled the music here is not a remake of the past, but a new creation of music that makes you want to spin this disc continually!
Fans of Beach Boys, Smithereens, and Posies… will want to add this to the music your collection!
This is a Top Ten for 2008! Marlene Palumbo ~ Indienink Music
- indienink.com
The long-awaited followup to their brilliant debut is finally here (what's it been, 7-8 years?)! And it's certainly been worth the wait as they've delivered an absolute pop gem! The critics seem to agree with us, judging by the glowing reviews that are already in! "They have a love of melodic power-pop with big hooks, great harmonies, and a sound reminiscent of 70's AM music and 80's pop rock. They've been compared to Teenage Fanclub and Fountains Of Wayne (still present), though there also appears to be strong influences from The Beatles to Van Morrison to a host of 80's Brit-Pop bands (we hear some Squeeze and Marshall Crenshaw). 'How Wrong You Are' is a jangly rocker that could be a Gin Blossoms tune. 'She's Under My Skin' is a silly little love song in the British tradition with big harmonies and a memorable melody. The title track opens with an American influenced guitar hook and resolves into another strong harmony-based gem.
If the Everly Brothers came up through the musical ranks twenty years later and were from Britain, they might sound quite a lot like these guys!" - Wildy'sWorld.blogspot.com
- Wildy'sWorld.blogspot.com
Surrounding us outside while we chewed the fat were the MANY children of the next act, my friends from Ohio, the Smith Brothers. I knew it was time to go in to watch when the courtyard emptied, looking the Pied Piper had just passed through. Before I could get up front I could already hear the strains of the Theme from the Partridge Family being pumped from the stage with nothing but grins all around from the crowd.
If you think the Bros. are a jokey novelty act think again, Mike Clark is one of the best young songwriters out there today and the Bros. have an EP out , an LP in the can, and Mike..s five or six songs into the next record already. If this wan..t enough, Mike, bass and vocs, Pat Dollenmayer, guitar,vocs and an army of children, Kris Phillips and Brian Pack, drums and guitar respectively kick serious ass as a live band. I somehow lost, yeah, LOST, their CD but Mike..s already sent another and hopefully some unheard goodies from the next album for me to hear. I..ll be sure to blog about that when I get ..em.
After a sterling set of originals Mike announced that although they don..t normally do covers, they thought it would be appropriate to play one for the CPF crowd...one from a band from...Cleveland. Cue slashing guitar chords and feel the oxygen sucked out of the room, I look around to see people screaming and realize I..m doing the same thing, the Smith Brothers are playing Tonight by the Raspberries!!!!!! Pop nivana, folks, Pat is singing his ass off and the crowd is doing the St. Vitus Dance Party, the song comes to a close, and then something happens that you NEVER see in a nightclub, a standing ovation, long and well deserved.
I don..t smoke anymore, but I feel like I need one now, lol...whew! - Steve Caraway
The Smith Brothers "Lost"
The Smith Brothers are not the guys on a box of cough drops. It's another group featured at Charlotte PopFest, and the Smith Brothers have a great classic power pop sound, very much like Teenage Fanclub or Cheap Trick. Pat Dollenmayer and Mike Clark have a true enthusiasm for the music, and it comes out in the opener "Lost" - a Teenage Fanclub styled slice of greatness. The classic guitar sounds continue on "Way We Know" another melodic fuzz covered gem. The pace slows down a bit for "Ducky" which goes for a classic Elvis Costello meets You Am I sound, with wonderful guitar solos and gentle harmonies. Elements of Fountains of Wayne are found in the songwriting style, and I picked this up on "Blame on You" and mid-tempo "Words Fail Me." Another classic here is the bouncy "Addicted To You," with Squeeze-like chordplay and vocal approach. No bad tracks, and you'll surely get addicted to the music here. I hope these guys get bigger distribution, as this is a great CD that all power pop fans will love. A new disc this year is planned for spring -- get this while you wait. - Powerpopaholic.com
“9 out of 10. The Smith Bros. are back -- fans of Velvet Crush and Posies should rejoice. I enjoyed the debut and this is a solid follow up showing both musical and songwriting growth. The buzzsaw riffs and subdued vocals are back in all it's hook-filled glory. "How Wrong You Are" is a Posies styled mid-tempo guitar lead single that does everything you'd expect. The vocals of the brothers Smith come close to a combination of Evan Dando (Lemonheads) and Tim Rogers (You Am I). The follow up "Down To You" is similar but "She's Under My Skin" takes it up a notch gets a little funky with a Jellyfish-like quality in the chorus. The next song "Talk of the Town" is just brilliant --in that combines the lyrical wit of Elvis Costello and the sighing harmonies of the Beach Boys with the support of a wall of Rickenbacker guitar chords. The following tune "Restless" seems also cut from that cloth and the tone gets more hopeful. "Every Day Gets Better" is the template of a power pop song and manages to inject a real enthusiasm and freshness in the standard three-minutes plus pop song. There is a lot of music here too (13 tracks). Each one filled with ultra-melodic guitar hooks and simple, memorable melodies. Best here is there is no drop off in quality of the music. Even the ballad "Little Things" is interesting and the sunshine pop of "My Great Regret" is another excellent Costello-meets-Beach Boys flavored single and would have been a perfect ending. By the time we get to the "bonus" country-pop song "Daydream" (which sounds like a holdover from the first album) you realize you've been on a musical journey. And what a trip - I highly advise you get this if you like any of the bands I mentioned above. This also makes my crowded top ten of 2008 list this year.” - www.powerpopaholilc.com
Discography
One of the tracks on the "Lost" CD, "Without You" was used by The Fox Network to promote their new show, "Undeclared". It received national TV airtime. The second CD, "Restless" is now receiving major airtime on many college, internet and now quite a few mainstream stations. The list of stations can be found on our website: www.thesmithbrosmusic.com
We also have a track on Beautiful Escape, songs of the Posies revisited. The Smith Bros. version of "Golden Blunders" is the first song on the 2nd CD. It has received great reviews and is receiving major radio airplay.
Photos
Bio
Smith Bros is a power pop quartet that formed under the bond that Pat Dollenmayer and Mike Clark had over the love of A.M. pop radio. Hearing anything from The Hollies to The Raspberries on A.M. radio fueled a love for power pop and hook laden songs that drove Mike and Pat to form a band to play in that style. Smith Bros is now influenced by many power pop bands that are out today as well as the power pop groups that played in the 70’s and 80’s. Mike plays bass and sings, Pat plays guitar and sings, and they are rounded out with Kris Phillips on drums and Eric Fritsch from Nashville on guitar. They write original music that is compared to anything that is Brit Rock to Teenage Fanclub and Fountains of Wayne. Smith Bros has released an independent CD titled “Lost”, and has just released their second album titled "Restless" in October 2008.
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