November 10, 2010

Mikey Jukebox - Mikey Jukebox (2010)

Mikey Jukebox's self-titled debut is a pretty fun album. The clean production and electronic beats on songs like "Come Along" (mp3) and "American Noise" recall the shiny pop rock of the 80's, when New Wave and power pop went mainstream. It's easy to imagine the video for "New Radio" involving lots of dancing and smiling. Suffice to say it's feel good rock n' roll. In fact, the album feel a bit like a celebration of the topic, as it and its history is referenced throughout the album. Overall, the album is a little front loaded, but still has a good single to filler ratio.

Apparently, Mikey James played in Longwave. I don't really hear their shoegazing mope here — the tone is way more upbeat — but it is nice to know that members of a favorite band of mine are still recording.

3 Comments:

Mona said...

Whoa... why am I only now finding out you love Longwave?! You're the only person other than me I know who does (how sad, actually). What's your favorite song/album? I heard "Tidal Wave" the other day after so long... still sounds so friggen good. And that video is so great, so simple.

awmercy said...

Hmmm... I am not sure why Secrets Are Sinister was never reviewed. There were definitely a couple good songs on that album.

I think there are actually quite a few QC contributors with Longwave albums.

My favorite album is probably The Strangest Things, but that might just be 'cause it was the album I heard first, the one that made me a fan.

Hard to say what song without going back are listening to them all.

Mona said...

The Strangest Things definitely started my love affair too (particularly due to "Tidal Wave"). Secrets are Sinister was pretty good I thought, even though their sound was "bigger" than usual. I had tickets to see them on that tour, but I didn't go for stupid personal reasons. Musical regret!