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Hard Place "Get Your Hopes Up"


This hard rocking L.A. quartet?s live shows are making headlines wherever they go (typical blog reports refer to a wake of ?beer on the floor, vomit in the pool, glitter everywhere?), so I?m glad to report, based on the strength of their debut, that the hype is worth the effort to catch them at all costs. Vocalist Ashley Huizenga chirps like a butterfly and stings like a bee from behind her keyboards, weaving her 80?s dance rhythms around guitarist, Freddy Cristy?s piercing guitar breaks. The title track leaps out from your speakers like a clarion call to all you ?I Love The 80?s? fanatics to hit the dancefloors, while ?The Photographer? recalls The Cars in their prime.

The band tongue-in-cheekily drags out some cool retro Devo syncopation for ?Mondays Are For Working? and the Cristy/Huizenga sex games and vocal interplay suggest they?ve been listening to a lot of Berlin and Tubes albums (and check out ?Better In Leather? for a ripping trawl through proto-Romeo Void moves that will certainly make Debbie Iyall nervous about a comeback! In fact, I?d love to hear them take a crack at ?Never Say Never? ? at least give it a shot on stage to gauge audience reception.)

Cristy whips off some solid glam grooves on the chunky rocker, ?Bon Vivant? and flitters through a damn fine Freddy Mercury impression on the Queen-ly ?Last Goodbye,? and the couple?s vocals perfectly embrace each other on the sentimental closer, ?Holly Dubonet? demonstrating that the band have a soft side as well. So if you long for those days when the latest releases from The Tubes, Blondie, Berlin, or The Cars were the highlights of your week, then hurry out and pick this up. And be sure to catch them live if you get the chance. 7/10 -- Jeff Penczak (23 July, 2008)

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