What they're speaking of:
*Best of 2000; Singer-writer Scott Klass is able to touch hearts and nerves with the uncanny gift to marry words and music in a seamless construct.... (Kevin Matthews, Power Of Pop/MTV Asia)
*12 perfect songs that make up a hugely enjoyable release that will effortlessly win over anyone who comes into contact with it. (Robin Wills, Bucketful of Brains)
* ...these New Yorkers deliver 12 tracks that fans of Fountains Of Wayne, mid-period Kinks, and Brian Wilson will eat up as their three square meals a day. Klass writes absolutely wonderful, sometimes beautiful songs.... (David Bash, founder, International Pop Overthrow, Shake It Up)
* The Davenports' Speaking of the Davenports will not only fit snuggly in a radio-friendly scene, it could easily slide into the helm. (Rockpile)
* A minor quirk-pop classic, Speaking of the Davenports is laden with catchy hooks and fantastic harmonies over fuzzy guitars...The songs quickly worm their way into your head, and take up permanent residence before you realize it. (Julio Diaz, Ink19)
Heavy on hook, harmony, and melodies that stay with you longer than a broke brother, The Davenports' pop craft is readily likened to the best of Fountains Of Wayne, Todd Rundgren, and Matthew Sweet. Speaking Of The Davenports, the debut record from the New York City power pop quartet, continues to garner accolades like the above as the band sweeps through a series of summer shows, prepares to record their eagerly-awaited follow-up to Speaking Of..., and sees that first record licensed again by MTV.
Singer-songwriter Scott Klass and guitarist Sam McIlvain have both played together and partaken in a game of Greenwich Village musical incest for several years, having worked in different projects with such pop luminaries as Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger (Fountains Of Wayne, Ivy), Danny Weinkauf and Dan Miller (Candy Butchers, They Might Be Giants). Eager to release a new batch of songs, Klass assembled McIlvain, Weinkauf, Miller and original Candy Butcher Todd Foulsham in the winter of 2000, and recorded what would become Speaking Of The Davenports. The record was released on Mother West Records in late spring to critical acclaim.
The Davenports, as a band, was born with the addition of bassist Thomas Ward and drummer Rob Draghi. The group began supporting the record with a series of shows, highlighted by an opening slot for They Might Be Giants at New York's Bowery Ballroom. The fall saw The Davenports first foray into both television and radio, as the band performed and chatted on Studio Y, a live TV show geared towards teenagers, and performed acoustically on WFMU. At the same time, the record piqued the interest of MTV, enough so that the network licensed it twice-first for last fall's season of Undressed, and more recently for the upcoming The Sausage Factory.
Described by the All Music Guide as a collection of "excellently-written," "hook-filled and infectious" pop songs, Speaking Of The Davenports moves gracefully from the immediate, guitar-soaked rock of "Object In The Mirror," to the string-laden baroque pop of "You're On Your Own," to the country-romp of "Dog Run." Klass' lyrics are as consistent in their ironic detachment from the accompanying music as they are in their snug fit within it. The result is a batch of songs that are, in the words of Kevin Matthews, "as painfully affecting as they are melodically memorable."
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