{"id":666,"date":"2011-12-14T04:45:47","date_gmt":"2011-12-14T09:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=666"},"modified":"2023-05-18T14:42:57","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T18:42:57","slug":"ep-review-jamie-steve-the-next-big-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/12\/14\/ep-review-jamie-steve-the-next-big-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"EP Review: Jamie & Steve – The Next Big Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"

I could be wrong about this \u2013 this assertion is based on observation, not specific knowledge \u2013 but as of about 2010, I think that The Spongetones<\/strong> ceased operation as a recording unit, a creator of new material for release on albums. Whether that’s true or not \u2013 their last (final?) album Scrambled Eggs<\/em> was released in 2009 \u2013 we have most definitely not heard the last from their well of creativity. In late 2009 an album called English Afterthoughts<\/em> was released, credited to Jamie & Steve<\/strong>. Not a Six Million Dollar Man<\/em>-themed duet outfit, the duo was instead Jamie Hoover<\/strong> and Steve Stoeckel<\/strong>, half of the Spongetones. That disc continued the peerless quality control of the ‘Tones, and carried on that group’s sonic expansion beyond their early Beatles<\/strong>-themed sound.<\/p>\n

English Afterthoughts<\/em><\/a> had, in places, a Chad & Jeremy<\/strong> flavor to it, and featured prominent use of the ukulele, an instrument not generally thought of as part of a rock’n’roller’s arsenal. (George Harrison<\/strong><\/a>, Tiny Tim<\/strong><\/a> and Agony Aunts<\/strong><\/a> notwithstanding.) The duo’s 2011 followup, an EP cleverly titled The Next Big Thing<\/em>, builds on the sound of its predecessor. Imagine an exercise in what-else-can-we-try that happens also to have fine songs as its foundation, and you have The Next Big Thing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeaside Sparrow\u201d sounds uncannily like late-period XTC<\/strong>, if their alter egos The Dukes of Stratosphear<\/strong> set their sights on the White Album instead of Electric Lollipop<\/em>. \u201cCan We Start Again, Girl?\u201d is Jamie & Steve at their most Spongetones-like, with a Spector<\/strong>esque beat supporting the duo’s well-honed and flawless close-harmony vocal work. \u201cDancing On Ice\u201d also recalls the ‘Tones, specifically the unusual vocal harmonies on \u201cNow is Now\u201d from 1991’s Oh Yeah!<\/em> (the first CD I ever purchased, by the way). \u201cHalf a Mind\u201d kicks off with pizzicato strings and scratchy-vinyl ambience, but soon heads into heavier rock territory. Then it veers back into English music-hall territory: this call-and-response\/seesaw arrangement recalls one of English Afterthoughts<\/em>‘ highest points, \u201cBetween the Lines.\u201d In the end, it’s art-pop, Jamie & Steve style.<\/p>\n

The soaring(!) \u201cOver My Head\u201d suggests a male version of Jackie DeShannon<\/strong><\/a> (with Jack Nitzsche<\/strong><\/a> arranging), and adds some lovely electric sitar lead work. Extended lyrical phrasing is the centerpiece of the title track, the final cut on the EP. It also features another Jamie & Steve hallmark: paired vocals so tight that you can’t tell who’s singing what. In the end, it doesn’t matter, ’cause it’s all great. \u201cThe Next Big Thing\u201d scores extra points for its subtle use of a phase shifter. (Note that the word \u201csubtle\u201d and the phrase \u201cphase shifter\u201d rarely find use in the same sentence.)<\/p>\n

The only criticism of The Next Big Thing<\/em> I can muster is that it isn’t, well, bigger<\/em>. Hopefully we won’t have to wait two more years for another clutch of immortal melodies from Jamie & Steve.<\/p>\n

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I could be wrong about this \u2013 this assertion is based on observation, not specific knowledge \u2013 but as of about 2010, I think that The Spongetones ceased operation as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[1095],"class_list":["post-666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","tag-jamie-steve","cat-65-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25338,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions\/25338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}