SWEET, NATALIE - Oh, By The Way It's (Sealed) (CD)

FFO: The Shanghais, Tina and the Total Babes, The Yum Yums, Nikki Corvette, Control Freaks, The Go-Gos, Ramones_ Former lead singer of the Shanghais NATALIE SWEET's debut solo album! It's a slammin' power pop album somewhere between Rocket to Russia and Parallel Lines (well at least in our minds!). Natalie boasts an amazing backup band featuring Morten Henriksen of The Yum Yums, Devin Clark Jorgenson of Color TV, and Travis Ramin of Nikki Corvette & the Stingrays, Tina & the Total Babes, and the Fevers! When Travis Ramin described Natalie Sweet's solo debut as a "slammin' power pop album somewhere between Rocket To Russia and Parallel Lines", you had to know my ears perked up! Especially given my fondness for Sweet's past musical endeavors and all of Ramin's productions, I knew this was something I needed to hear. Yet not even that kind of build-up could have prepared me for the OH MY GOD! moment of actually hearing this record. My jaw dropped to the floor within the first 30 seconds of the opening track. Soon I was dancing around my basement in joyful celebration. The whole album left me feeling like a little kid on Christmas morning. If I could have dreamed up the perfect power pop album and had an unlimited budget to hire the best people to make it happen, I still couldn't have topped this. Lord Rutledge, Faster And Louder //