Ken Stringfellow and Jonathan Auer, the leaders of the Posies, expressed
genuine big-league pop ambitions with minor-league budgets on their early
releases, so it's not especially surprising that their first album for
a major label, Dear 23, found them laying on all the baroque textures
that they couldn't afford on their own dime. Sounding a bit like a modernized
version of the Hollies with a studio sound that crossed The White Album
with Big Star 3rd, Dear 23 kicks off with two pleasing slices of glossy
power pop, "My Big Mouth" and "Golden Blunders" (the
latter of which was covered by an actual Beatle, Ringo Starr, doubtless
a major thrill for these guys). But by the time track four rolls around
("Any Other Way"), power has taken a cigarette break, and the
album drifts into a mid-tempo dreamland where everything is either pretty
and contemplative or pretty and a bit morose. (Though in all fairness,
the rocking "Help Yourself" does pop up in the later innings
to punch things up). Dear 23 is packed with too much good stuff to escape
the notice of any true pop obsessive -- Auer and Stringfellow write great
songs, their harmonies are nothing short of superb, and the arrangements
and production (by the band in collaboration with John Leckie) are imaginative
and flawlessly executed. However, for all the craft, there isn't a lot
of passion or heart in this music; the long hours in the studio getting
the sounds right seem to have squeezed out the soul of the music. Dear
23 offers all the proof you could ask for that the Posies were major talents.
However, it also made them sound like they weren't especially fun to be
around or compelling to hear from, and that ultimately sinks the album.
(by Mike Demming, All
Music Guide)
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