CIRRONE "UPLANDS PARK ROAD"

WRITTEN ON APRIL 18, 2011 BY POWERPOPAHOLIC IN HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY POWERPOPAHOLIC, TOP TEN OF 2011 CANDIDATE

From Sicily, Italy with power pop love, we meet three brothers: Alessandro (vocal, guitar), Bruno (vocal, bass) and Mirko Cirrone (vocal, guitar) joined by Ferdinando Piccoli (drums) to form the band Cirrone. Formerly The Apple Scruffs, the band has successfully blended the retro influences to today’s rock sound. Full of tight harmonies and strong guitar riffs, it’s one of the best albums I’ve heard this year.

The band’s Beatlesque sound is leveraged with strong composition on the opener “Here Is My Song.” The next tune is the glorious title track, and echos of both Badfinger and The Hudson Brothers will give chills down your spine for sure.

“I Still Remember” is a power ballad with a slow build to a riff heavy ending and “Let The Wind Blow” chugs along with it’s Big Star/Wings slide guitar solo and delicate chorus.

Every track here is a winner with no obvious weak spots, as we hit the albums second side “Brand New Life” is a majestic uplifting ballad that ends with a solid guitar outro. “How Does It Feel” adds some horn flourishes to this sunshine-filled tune. I could keep going, but odds are if you read this blog, you’ll love this album. Easy spot near the top ten of 2011 for best album of the year.

CIRRONE: Uplands Park Road (Escape)

October 10, 2011 by Mike Baron - popgeekheaven.com

Seldom does a first record arrive with such focus and beauty that it establishes itself as an instant classic and a trend setter.  Marshall Crenshaw is one. Cirrone’s Uplands Park Road is another. These three Sicilian brothers have distilled the essence of the Beatles, Big Star and the Byrds (to name a few) into an irresistible musical juggernaut.  Alessandro, Bruno, and Mirko Cirrone share guitar and bass duties, aided by drummer Ferdinando Piccoli.  

Mirko’s and Alessandro’s guitar work is both fun and monumental, lines written in fire and stone, the kind that lift you from the Barcalounger into the frenzied contortions of Jeff Beck or Pete Townshend. Like Rock4, another foreign band raised on American and Brit pop, they have absorbed their influences and refashioned them in their own image.

   “Here Is My Song” introduces their exquisite harmonies, Alessandro tracing languid, glow-in-the-dark guitar.  Peeling guitars begin “Uplands Park Road” before settling into an infectious groove. “I wanna play in a rock and roll band, Got no money in my pocket got no money to spend” offers Brobdingnagian guitars and more hooks than a tackle box–and that’s before they break into an instantly identifiable Big Star chorus. “I Still Remember” creeps in on lyrical guitar before taking a hard turn into Bravery-like stomp.  Mirko’s guitar paints crimson arabesques in and around the surging main theme.  “Let the Wind Blow” mates Mirko’s steel guitar with a wall of guitars for this mid-tempo locomotive with a chorus that’s going to burrow into your brain like a screw-shaped mind parasite.  “Brand New Life” is as achingly beautiful as anything by the Mommas and the Poppas with another lethal chiming chorus.

  “Your Eyes Are Wide Open” another instantly memorable mid-tempo rocker with a chorus to die for and a cornucopia of guitars.  “Just Tell Me” is a lush mid-tempo rocker that could have come from the Turtles with perfect Everly Brothers’ harmonies and another lethal earworm.  This record may be the cure for unwanted earworms.  You can’t stop listening to it and their ceaseless melodic invention never bores.  “You’re Not Alone” bears Beatlesque influences but this far into the album it’s clear that Cirrone have a uniquely sure-footed and inventive guitar presence. “In the Sun” ends the album with a pitch-perfect stab at Crosby, Stills and Nash. Every song is outstanding.  European CD boxes are superior to domestic, with rounded corners and built-in latch. Five stars.

CD of the Day, 4/6/11: Cirrone-Uplands Park Road

April 6, 2011 by Absolute Powerpop

In the 90s it was Oasis who took the sound of 60s and 70s rock of The Beatles, the Stones, The Who and others and brought it into the present day. In the 00s it was Jet who found success with this template. And now picking up the torch in the 10s is Italy's Cirrone (originally known as Apple Scruffs), a band of three brothers who are making the old sound new again in what's my favorite discovery of 2011 to date.

The lovely Beatlesque "Here is My Song" announces their arrival, while the title track mixes Oasis-style swagger and Big Star-like guitars and song structure. The quiet/loud dynamic of "I Still Remember" recalls Sloan, and "Let the Wind Blow" melds the McCartney of "Here, There & Everywhere" with the McCartney of "I've Got a Feeling". By about the fifth track rolls around, the Chiltonesque power poppin' "All I Know", you get the feeling these guys can do no wrong.

"Brand New Life" is another impressive piece of work, starting out as a pretty ballad that builds to a rocking 2-minute crescendo of guitar outro, something you don't hear a lot on power pop albums these days. "How Does it Feel?" is a piece of cheerful, "Good Day Sunshine"-styled pop with all the attendant bells and whistles, and "Your Eyes Are Wide Open" has that Lennon-by-way-of-Noel Gallagher feel.

The back half of the disc is no letdown, either, no mean feat in an age when so many discs peter out around this time. "Just Tell Me" is a moody, midtempo rocker that could be the best track on a lot of other albums, and the boys prove proficient at psych-pop with the trippy "You're Not Alone". "Here We Will Go" earns points for being different than the rest, an assertive rocker with some horn help, and "In the Sun" is a "Because"-styled ballad with ethereal harmonies. Again, there isn't anything here you haven't heard before in some form or another, but like the best power pop it makes it all seem fresh again. It'll be criminal if these guys don't find a wider audience like their forebear.