Your New Secret Crush

Every once in a while your friends and acquaintances in a band will release a CD…. and God you wish they wouldn’t have. I mean, you buy it and hope for the best, but you shelve it in horror half way through the first play and never listen to it again. When they ask you about it later on, you just nod and smile and tell them you love it. Inside though, you know you’re lying through your teeth. When other friends come over and pull it off the shelf, you shudder and tell them “don’t”.

Then there is the Secret Crush Society, which has become one of my favorite local acts playing around town. Their live shows always have an element of mischevious fun about them, sort of like Mom and Dad are going to come home any minute now and catch them rocking out in the basement. They love it when you throw the horns at them, but they can’t hide their smiles when they throw them back at you. Its rock n roll just for the sake of fun, the way it was meant to be.

The good news is that their new CD, entitled Baltimore Chapter, captures just about everything you love about the SCS. Listening to it, I can easily visualize Joey’s acrobatic leaps as he wails away on his guitar, and Lisa’s pompoms waving wildly as she leads the crowd in the SCS cheer. Not only is it a lot of fun, it also shows off their formidable song writing skills as well. From the floating Secret Crush to the haunting Edie, these folks can hook you in hard. My advice is to let them. Don’t fight the line, just let them reel you in and whack you over the head with an oar.

All in all, this is a very solid first effort from a great young band. Not glitzy, not overly produced, just some good ole fashioned punk fueled pop. My only qualm is that it’s too damn short! They could have easily included the Big Gorilla song and their fantastic cover of Islands in the Stream and still had plenty of room left. By the time you hear them sing about packing up their Love n Rockets collection though, any shortcomings will be forgiven.

If you live in town, head on over to Atomic Books and pick this one up. If not, don’t sweat it. The Baltimore Chapter accepts out of town orders through atomicbooks.com.

It’s time you get initiated.