i love this cd i know some of them personally and i know my mom ernie love there music too i love any music they play
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I can't keep this cd out of my player. Good rockin' POWER POP! It reminds me of the late 70's, early 80's stuff. Nick Lowe, Squeeze...etc. I don't know what the original cassette release sounded like, but this sounds great. Walter Clevenger did a wonderful job bringing it back to life! I LOVE IT!
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The Tickets revels in the simple joys of power pop: crisp, hooky love songs about boys and girls. This Orange Country, CA outfit of Anglophiles draws their inspiration from such British performers as Squeeze, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello and, naturally, the Beatles. While the music sounds quite fresh today, these tracks actually were recorded in the late ‘80s. The Tickets, a popular Southern California act from 1985-95, put out a cassette-only release The Tickets Make A Record in 1990 that forms the basis of this CD. Occasionally their influences show through a bit too readily as in the Beatles-esque Dream About Me or the Costello-like The One That Loved; however, this album sails along with an infectious energy. Frontman/songwriter Bryan Shaddix proves to be a real discovery. He pens instantly catchy tunes and delivers them with robust vocals. A fine guitarist as well, Shaddix receives support from his lively rhythm section. Marcos De La Cruz's active drumming recalls Blondie's Clem Burke while bassist Andy Winston has a bit of the Attractions' Bruce Thomas in him. The disc's buoyant pace flags only slightly on the one ballad Everything but it immediately bounces back with the wonderful rave-up How The Good Things Come, one of the Tickets' top efforts. Another notable number is Heartland, a splendid love song built around a chimey melody and enriched with classic pop harmonies. The disc augments the original release with two songs from a 1986 single. She Got Away is a little known Katrina Leskanich (from Katrina and the Waves fame) tune while the mega-poppy Yesterday's Girl features early member Donald Mabbott on vocals. The disc's final two tracks showcase Shaddix's lead vocals on tunes originally sung by rhythm guitarist Brian Martin, although Martin's vocals are perfectly fine. The Tickets found the proper person to resurrect their music in Walter Clevenger. Clevenger, who fronts his own terrific Orange County power pop group, stewarded the remastering job and even contributed some keyboards to the final product. Songs like How The Good Things Come and Our Two Hearts, for example, benefit from their latter day keyboard embellishments. Not that much embellishment was needed. The original songs are so terrifically tuneful that power pop fans everywhere will delight in having them available. Well worth the discovery.
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I really dig the music of Brewery Records head honcho Walter Clevenger (with his band the Dairy Kings) so hey, maybe he has good taste in the music he releases as well and judging by The Tickets……he does ! This band existed on Orange County, CA in the late 80’s/ early 90’s and were obscure at best. 12 of these songs were from an ultra-rare cassette that the band self-released in 1990 (under the name THE TICKETS MAKE A RECORD) while the other 2 songs are from a 1986 7”single. Lead guy Bryan Shaddix seems to have studied his Squeeze records (and some Beatles platters too) cos’ the guy knows his way around a cool n’ catchy melody as cuts like “Dream About Me”, “How the Good Things Come” and “Heartland” are perfect tunes for cranking up in the car on a sunny Saturday morning when all you want to do is drive ! Nothing groundbreaking here folks , just catchy pop tunes played with guts, passion and a serious love of music.
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