American Hi-Fi
In Rock music, what is old is often new again. Take drummer Stacy Jones. After stints with critically acclaimed, but marginally commercial groups, Letters To Cleo and Veruca Salt, Jones found himself working on Nina Gordon's "Tonight and the Rest of My Life." For this project Jones wanted to capture the upbeat vibrancy of Cheap Trick. So he linked with guitarist Jamie Arentzen, bassist Drew Parsons and drummer Brian Nolan. American Hi-Fi was launched following the Gordon sessions. Using Jones' native Boston as base, the group began working on songs.
In '01 America Hi-Fi's debut album hit the stores led by the hugely successful single "Flavor Of The Weak." Two years later, they scored again with "The Art Of Losing." That was followed in '05 by "Hearts On Parade."
They don't get much bigger than "Flavor of the Weak." The ubiquitous American Hi-Fi tune got their self-titled debut off to a good start. The question: Is there more here than "Flavor." The answer: Yes. Other Rockers are "Hi-Fi Killer" and "I'm a Fool" with a falsetto vocal chorus. The mid-tempo "Safer On The Outside" and "A Bigger Mood" are strong but the CD has some down spots including "Don't Wait For The Sun. Still, "Flavor's" humorous/sarcastic lyrical approach is prevalent throughout the CD. American Hi-Fi continues on their trajectory with "The Art Of Losing" featuring the title track, "Nothing Left To Lose" and "Built For Speed" and "Hearts On Parade." The latter contains the standout tracks "Hell Yeah" and "The Geeks Get The Girls." It's accessible, upbeat and fun.