My Friend Stephanie

Item: One of Those Days
Author: Bert Gangl

One of Those Days

(1999)

Reviewed by Bert Gangl

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Label Gray Dot RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2000

alternative rock modern rock pop rock power pop

Playing power pop music has always been a precarious enterprise. The original flurry of of artists hit in the early 1970s when bands like the Flamin' Groovies, Badfinger and the Raspberries joined the Beatles' melodious pop sensibility with the crunching, riff-heavy hard rock of the Kinks and the Who. But, while the Raspberries and Badfinger scored a handful of Top 20 hits and no doubt helped encourage the larger-scale power pop movement during the mid-'70s, the decided majority of artists spent the decade laboring away in virtual obscurity in the shadow of their more successful arena and progressive rock cousins before disappearing altogether in the wake of the early-'80s new wave music boom. In recent years, though, a new crop of musicians have dared to picked up the power pop mantle, turning out delightfully catchy music built squarely upon the scaffolding of the three-and-a-half-minute pop song.

For the bulk of their third release, One of Those Days, the members of My Friend Stephanie adhere relatively closely to the power pop template. "Yet to Come" posts twangy, Duane Eddy-like guitar effects nimbly against a wall of lively power chords to give the song its buoyant pop character. The semi-theatrical moog treatments and alliterative lyrical structure of "If You Want It" (If you want it/ You got it/ I'm waiting for you/ I'm never far away) give the decidedly lighthearted tune an infectious sense of optimism. And numbers like "What's Goin' On" and "Marie" are stamped with the tight, soaring harmonies and refreshingly sincere, almost naïve, language (I was sitting in my kitchen/ Thinking of you/ How I wish that you still loved me/ How I wish that you still knew) that have always inhabited the true pop genre.

As impressive and energetic as these entries are, the quality of the music is diminished when the group ventures outside of its power pop domain. The sweeping ballad "Mom and Dad," which is certainly based on noble enough sentiment, winds up being submerged by its trite lyrical statements (I've been criticized from the very start/ But two people have been there with all of their heart) and cloying delivery. And the remade "Lullabye 99," while arguably impressive by virtue of its sheer length, is still more protracted than grand and merely serves as a retread of the original 1996 version. In all fairness, the remaining songs are mostly innocuous enough and feature agreeable melodies and accessible subject matter. But they still crumble, by and large, under the weight of their clichéd wording and undistinguished musical structures. Although not necessarily bad, the tracks are ultimately forgettable, paling in comparison to the more innovative lyrical constructions and infectious hook lines of modern-day popsters like Fountains of Wayne or the Hang Ups.

Still, although One of Those Days certainly has its fair share of weaker songs, the amount of filler material is easily outweighed by the quantity of sparkling, well-written pop-rock. And, given the album's hour-plus length, the good songs alone constitute a fairly impressive album in their own right. It's probably no stretch to say that My Friend Stephanie is not likely destined generate a horde of similarly-minded artists set to infiltrate the Top 40. But, from its very inception, power pop has been the domain of groups concerned less about potential chart success than simply making the kind of music that they love. And the amiable and spirited One of Those Days is indeed a worthy addition to this sparse but earnest parcel of the rock music landscape.

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