The Apples In Stereo: A Band Out Of Time

09/11/09 2:46pm

by Chris Burland (CHARTattack)

Last week, The Apples In Stereo released a best of CD called #1 Hits Explosion. For those (really) old enough to remember those K-Tel compilation LPs from the '70s, The Apples In Stereo chose a title to honour those greatest hits packages that came out every three or four months throughout that decade.

Those compilations were called things like Fantastic, 20 Dynamic Hits, Dynamite, Music Express and Music Power. Each of these albums compiled many of the top selling singles of the day, usually editing the lengthy tunes and placing 20 to 24 songs on a single LP. This was a time when LPs held at most 13 songs on both sides of a 12" vinyl and the quality of the vinyl was sub par and the grooves were quite tight. After a few plays on the cheapest of turntables, these non-virgin vinyl records would quickly get scratched and warp making them almost unlistenable, but as a young pre-teen it was the cheapest way to get the most music for my small allowance. You could buy 20 songs for under four bucks. K-Tel made a killing with each of these releases.

While listening to #1 Hits Explosion two things come to mind. The first thing is the ability for the band led by Robert Schneider to create some of the best pop music in the last 15 years and how consistant the band's output has been right from thier earliest recordings. The second is thougth is that the band culling from their back catalogue could replicate the spirit of those old K-Tel albums.

This album features tracks from all of their studio albums Fun Trick Noisemaker (1995), Tone Soul Evolution (1997), Her Wallpaper Reverie (1999), The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone (2000), Velocity of Sound (2002) and New Magnetic Wonder (2007). Also included is the band's contribution to The Powerpuff Girls: Heroes and Villains soundtrack, "Signal In The Sky (Let's Go)."

Of all of the infamous Elephant Six bands that emerged when grunge ruled the airwaves, The Apples are the only ones still producing albums and still writing popwer pop music that was an antidote to the depressing aimless tone infused in the majority of material from Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Changes, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden and Screaming Trees. To say that Elephant Six (The Apples in Stereo, The Olivia Tremor Control and Neutral Milk Hotel) were a breath of fresh air is an understatement. 

The band's last studio album, New Magnetic Wonder turned around the band's fortunes. While critics and the indie fandom have been digging the '60s and '70s-inspired pop gems since the band's inception in 1992, popular culture really began to groove to the material on New Magnetic Wonder. It wasn't because they all ran down to their local record store (only to find they'd closed!) to buy this album. They didn't tune into MTV or MuchMusic to see an Apples video (not reality show material). They just watched their television and caught on of the many commercials featuring one of the Apples' songs.   

It's on my wife's iPod and every time "Energy, "Same Old Drag", "Sun Is Out" and "Can You Feel It?" comes on one of her carpool work mates questions, "Who's This? They're great!" 

Somewhere back in the early 80s the muisc business started to get things wrong. They started to put image before talent, style before substance, musical individualiity before homogeneity. Sure there was a great pressure on radio to play what the big record companies were pushing but back then few great songs were ignored. But by the video age, regularly great bands with great music received no airply. It took R.E.M. the darlings of the 80s indie scene six years to get regular airplay on television and radio station. By the time the early '90s rolled around, pop bands with anything original to present were pushed to the fringe of media coverage. Too bad for all of us.

So go out buy this album download it at iTunes and listen to it. You will not regret it.

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