HEARD THESE GUYS IN SOUTH BELOIT BY CHANCE AND THEY WERE GREAT.  I RECOMMEND THIS CD, AND CHECK OUT THE GUITAR WORK.  THE TRACKS ARE MELODIC BUT NOT OVER-PRODUCED.  THIS IS A RARE FIND, AND THE TYPE OF BAND I HAD BEEN WAITING FOR.
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Local band Arena Venus has a secret weapon in singer Courtney Collins, whose sultry and expressive voice would sound great singing just about anything. Fortunately, she's chosen to pair it up with charging power-pop, and the resulting album Plucked radiates sheer joy.
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The six tracks on Plucked, the CD by Madison power-popsters Arena Venus, vary in length from a lean, stripped-down 3:15 to a bloated 3:43. Such a variance (or, okay, lack thereof—stupid text media and its lack of obvious sarcasm!) in song length would seem to imply one of two things: either this band in stuck in a formulaic rut, or they just happen to be savvy radio-ready pop songwriters. In this case, fortunately, the latter is true. 

Arena Venus are a songwriting duo that are rooted deep in the power-pop of the late 70s and early 80s: Guitarist Dan Hicks throws down guitar riffs you’d expect to find on a Cheap Trick album (maybe not on the debut album...but maybe on Heaven Tonight), while vocalist Courtney Collins has that throaty, sultry Debbie Harry thang goin’ on. It’s a cool mix that’s awfully appropriate considering the geography involved (Hey, Rick Nielsen’s house is only, what, an hour away in Rockford?). 

The rest of what I’m guessing is a backing band (I was tipped off by the credit “additional musicians”) does their job capably. I don’t know how often the “additional musicians” play with Arena Venus, but the lack of a steady lineup may be what’s behind the only real problem I have with the recording: the songs sound a little too studio and a little less live than I’d normally like. Pop songs like this really need to be attacked by rockers you can picture leaping off their amps and powered up by a few six-packs of Sparks™ brand alcoholic energy drink. The six songs on Plucked, however, come off as a little restrained, almost to the point where you can see the individual band members in the recording studio by themselves, laying down tracks with no one to play off of. A little more chemistry between the players, and these songs could really explode out of your stereo speakers? 

Still, the catchiness of these tunes can’t be denied. Arena Venus aren’t necessarily breaking any new ground, but that really doesn’t matter one bit. The tunes are fun, to the point and free of filler, which is what you should expect from good quality power-pop records. I can only expect their future releases to steadily improve from the pretty darn solid foundation right here in my car stereo (well, not right here — what, you think I’m dictating to someone in the passenger seat?).
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this band kicks ass.  its great to see them live and close your eyes for a moment and listen to each layer of sound seperately.

this cd contains material previously available on the net, along with a few more. the production and engineering is flawless.  this is truly a quality act
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