CD Review: The Bangles – Sweetheart of the Sun (Release Date 09/27/2011)

The Bangles

Sweetheart of the Sun

Model Music Group

 
With nods to the past but no wallowing in it, Susanna Hoffs, and sisters Vicki and Debbie Peterson, the three women from sunny LA who warmed the early 80s with their SoCal brand of pop rock, return with a release that highlights their considerable skills as musicians, vocalists and songwriters. Lovely masters of harmony and the pop hook (who doesn’t remember “Walk Like an Egyptian”?), the very real musical talents of the Bangles were often overlooked in their early career as attention was easily diverted by their obvious sex appeal and the novelty of their all-girl act. Thirty years after their formation, this 12-song release (10 originals) proves they’ve still got their vocal and instrumental chops as voices soar and blend (“Through Your Eyes”), guitars jangle (“What a Life”) and these girls rock (the kiss-off “Ball and Chain”,  and the excellent  punk-tinged cover of “Sweet and Tender Romance”).

Recorded by the talented Matthew Sweet, who has previously collaborated with Hoffs, some of these songs were written years ago, while others like the title cut, inspired by the careers of Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon, are more recent. The sound runs the gamut from the psychedelic overtones of “Under a Cloud” to the power pop of “Mesmerized” and the  CSN&Y underpinnings of “One of Two”. Definitely worth a listen, Sweetheart of the Sun rarely misses a beat.

–Julie Watson

With Permission from The Current