HOME

NEWS

BIOS

LYRICS

SECRETS

CONTACT

More Squeaking for...
Action Plus Logo

Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5

The lounge revival was bullshit to begin with; record labels are running out of archived crap to remarket as art kitsch, and "new bands" are out re-creating the detritus and fucking with it just enough to justify the "interpretation." But Action Plus has enough perspective and atmosphere to transcend the contrivance. It's askew enough to be haunting, funny enough to let you in on the joke (sample lyric: "She only screws him when she's bored/Or when there's nothing on TV"), and "Woo Woo Woo Woo Woo Woo Woo Woo (The Car Alarm Song)" is a smart rip-off of "Wipeout."

-Robert Wilonsky, Los Angeles New Times


Far from a straight-up retro band, Action Plus prefers to toy with kitsch conventions and sounds to give a fresh perspective. It's a bit hard to pinpoint, blending and recontextualizing syrupy pop, lounge grooves, surf-rock, movie soundtracks, and campy retro. Oh yeah, it's got a Theremin in there too.

Joe Gore and singer/composer Ursula Blind formed the band based on their mutual interest in "composer-pop" by artists like Bacharach and Morricone. "They were people who stepped from the classical world into the pop world and attained great popularity," Gore says. "We consider those composers role models. Pop has never been as monochromatic as it is today, and I think we're doing something that's a lot cooler and a lot dorkier than what's in the mainstream."

-David McCoy, Totally Live News, Microsoft Music Central,
http://musiccentral.msn.com


Vik's got a new addiction. Every morning while having coffee he has to listen to the sultry sounds of five hipsters from San Francisco. Fronted by Ursula "a voice from heaven and hell" Blind and Joe "am I simply everywhere or what?" Gore, Action Plus puts together some of the coolest twisted pop this side of Bacharach on acid. A little surf-samba-kitsch-exotica frappe for your everyday living. How hooked is Vik? The Action Plus feature marks the first SOUND at Vik's: three full-length tracks for you to download.

Action Plus "Wanderlust": Those SF hipsters return with a second collection of pop-noir for the now generation. This Bammie/Wammie/Snoozie nominated super group features Joe Gore, Ursula Blind, Cynthia Smith, Pat Campbell and SF's notorious talking mime Sally Dana. One is hard pressed to pigeonhole this quintet. Postmod-alterna-Bacharach-pop-noir-instro-moodsongs might be a start, but requires too many hyphens and too much writing for most of the music press. Better to simply call them "moodsmiths" - creating not so much songs as mini moods. Wanderlust reveals a much darker and rockin' side than last year's eponymous debut. Nonetheless, "lounge," "exotica" and "EZ" fans will still find this immediately accessible and thoroughly enjoyable. This is not "play dress up and swill martini" cocktail music. This is the cocktail music wafting out of the door of a seedy lounge where the barmaids have beehives and the patrons are world weary and cheap booze drunk. Find out for yourself. Listen to selections from Wanderlust on Radio Vik.

-Vik Trola's Newsletter of Self Indulgence; Vik Trola's Lounge of Self-Indulgence, http://www.chaoskitty.com/t_chaos/actplus.html


The musical clash of 60's spy-thrillers, Ennio Morricone film scores and cocktail jazz is nothing so novel anymore, but Joe Gore's expert chops manage to raise it above its inherent kitsch. But the real stars here are chanteuses Ursula Blind and Sally Dana, who deliver smoky ballads and brassy rants with equal grace. Action Plus will sass your ass.

-Michael Ansaldo, BAM

Still more squeaking...