Well Well Well

No list of America's best current rock n' roll bands is complete without mention of Chicago's Safes. The brothers O'Malley tear it up live and put out fabulous recordings to boot. The excellent 2003 debut Family Jewels was definitely a hard one to top, but The Safes have truly outdone themselves with their second long player Well, Well, Well. Completely free of filler and featuring some of the best pop songs of recent memory, Well, Well, Well rates a place in the collection of every power pop fan. And when I say "power pop", I'm talking the traditional sense of the term: songwriting and vocal harmonies redolent of the Beatles and Kinks, with the driving energy and thunderous punch of Cheap Trick and the early Who. It's an approach that's been done to death by numerous bands, but few execute it better than The Safes.

The ringing melodies and finely-crafted arrangements hearken back 40 years or so, yet in no way does Well, Well, Well feel "retro" or patently derivative. Rather it feels fresh and timeless, the abundant hooks and soaring harmonies winningly rendered by a tight, formidable trio. No two tracks sound alike, and Patrick O'Malley's stellar production achieves a clean, muscular timbre. You'd have to search far and wide to find pop songs better than "Fairy Tale Tomorrow", "Cool Sounds Are Here Again", and "Everybody In The World". I know that saying "It's a shame these songs aren't being played on the radio" is a king cliche in the zine world. But what the hell! It's a shame these songs aren't being played on the radio! The rockers are equally compelling. "Phone Book Full of Phonies" boasts the year's awesomest guitar riff, while the Stonesy swagger of "Deception" brings to mind the almighty Figgs. Really, you can drop in on this album at any point and land on a hit. Whether you crave no-frills barroom bangers like "Bad Blood" or textured psych-pop gems like "Bliss This Instance", The Safes have got you covered. Indeed, cool sounds are here again! -NowWave Magazine