Album Notes

"With a sound both current and cutting edge, Gordo Gringo came into their own in the studio this spring. Their newly completed sophomore cd, "everybody loves the party", is a triumph of song craft, mood, and indie-rock sensibility. Gordo Gringo's new sound has been described as a cross between Death Cab For Cutie, Modest Mouse, and Wilco."
- "Top" Toppy UK7 2005

In a perfect world, Gordo Gringo's Every-body Loves the Party should have been released on a well-known indie label, if not a major. Of course, after ex-Wheatus member Phil Jimenez' experiences with Sony, he likely has no interest in corporate hassles, and with a home studio in Huntington and a crew of talented cohorts, why bother? Where the band's first effort, Jump the Crutch, overdid its aims for stylistic diversity, Everybody maintains the band's musicality while narrowing the focus a bit more squarely into indie-rock territory, and scores on virtually every track. Check the crazy banjo that barges through the otherwise routine mid-tempo rocker "Mad Tide," or the instrument's collision with a lo-fi lead guitar on the entrancing "What Are You On About?" Jimenez' vocals have fully matured into a weary, Jeff Tweedy-esque croon, and they are the consistent bedrock upon which the album is built, whether it's the minimally electronic "No Destination" or the surprisingly moving ballad "Old Suitcase." Like his pals in Wheatus, Jimenez and Gordo Gringo continue to prove there is something happening on Long Island that screams to be sought out, even if screaming is the only way to get people's attention these days.

-Kenny Herzog LI Press 2005