Wide Awake in the Spirit World: The Best of Outrageous Cherry

RELEASE
August 19, 2008
LABEL
Wicked Cool
GENRES
Pop/Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock

Album Review

Detroit psychedelic pop outfit Outrageous Cherry have been crafting their own version of the Nuggets box since they dropped their reverb-drenched self-titled debut on Bar/None in 1994. Driven by the immaculate pop craftsmanship of guitarist/singer Matthew Smith, the group's penchant for early-Bee Gees melodies, Velvet Underground freakouts, and Galaxie 500-induced dream sequences changed little throughout the years, which makes the career-spanning Wide Awake in the Spirit World: The Best of Outrageous Cherry -- released on Steven Van Zandt's Wicked Cool Records no less -- such a solid listen. Smith, who sounds like a cross between Joey Ramone, Brian Wilson, and the Posies' Ken Stringfellow, somehow manages to simultaneously filter everything through the flat black slabs of both Pink Floyd's Saucerful of Secrets and Spiritualized's Lazer Guided Melodies. It's a neat trick that should wear out its welcome but never does, as the band stays true to the standards of the three-minute pop song, rarely venturing out into the nebulous seas of acid rock improvisation. Standout cuts like "Stay Right Here for a Little While," "Saturday Afternoon," "Why Don't We Talk About Something Else," "New Creature," and "Young and Miserable" may have been plucked from different trees, but they're all from the same orchard.
James Christopher Monger, Rovi

Track Listing

  1. What Have You Invented Today?http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=287749514&id=287749508
  2. Stay Right Here for a Little While
  3. Girl You Have Magic Inside You
  4. Why Don't We Talk About Something Else
  5. Pretty Girls Go Insanehttp://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=287749518&id=287749508
  6. Saturday Afternoonhttp://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=287749519&id=287749508
  7. Young and Miserable
  8. More Than Bluehttp://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=287749521&id=287749508
  9. Our Love Will Change the World
  10. This Evening
  11. New Creature
  12. The Book of Spectral Projections
  13. Wide Awake in the Spirit World
  14. A Song for Someone Sometimeshttp://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=287749528&id=287749508
  15. Girl You Have Magic Inside You [Acoustic]http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=287749529&id=287749508
  16. See You Next Timehttp://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=287749531&id=287749508
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