Leicester Bangs - Online Magazine - August, 2001

 

Stateside

Twice as Gone

Leicester Bangs - United Kingdom

 

Having co-fronted an early version of The V-Roys with Scott Miller, and played with Ryan Adams' Pink Hearts side project, it would be natural to assume that John Paul Keith's Stateside would be as twangy as an elastic factory.  

They're not. Instead they play hook-heavy rock 'n' roll songs which swagger energetically between Keith Richards inspired Stones -"Happy", maybe - and The Replacements at their poppiest. 

As influences / inspirations go, those two are difficult to fault, and Keith provides the icing on the cake by penning some ace songs. Standouts include "Every Inch Of You", a slinky slowie, the lascivious "Little Black Dress" and the classic blue collar pop of "Saturday Night Forever". My one niggle is that the vocals aren't quite distinctive enough, but apart from that, no complaints.

 

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