\n[Editor’s note: this review originally appeared in<\/i> On The
\nTown
\nmagazine on July 2, 1996.]<\/i><\/p>\n
Wow. No, really. WOW!<\/p>\n
I could just leave it at that, but this incredible album
\ndeserves much, much more.<\/p>\n
First of all, as far as I know they aren’t related to those
\nKennedys (or even, for that matter, punk icons the Dead Kennedys).
\nHusband-and-wife guitar-and-vocals songwriting team Pete and Maura
\nKennedy are instead musical descendants of jangly guitar masters
\nThe Byrds and Tom Petty on the one side, and confessional
\ncountry-folk artists Mary Chapin Carpenter and Nanci Griffith on
\nthe other (both were part of Griffith’s touring band in the ’80s;
\nPete also toured with Carpenter; and founding Byrd Roger McGuinn
\nsolos on this album’s title cut). The Kennedys wear their
\ninfluences on their sleeves, chiming out Rickenbacker guitar leads
\nunderneath lyrics brimming with insight and wordplay, while also
\nmanaging to move the music forward, creating a sound that is fresh
\nand smart and thoroughly enjoyable.<\/p>\n
Pete Kennedy’s retro production, full of Hammond organ, Maura’s
\nacoustic rhythm guitar and his own punchy electric leads, invites
\nyou to dance along to numbers like the dark-side-of-love “Velvet
\nGlove” and the witty, self-aware “Sunday.” For most of the album,
\nhe also plays harmony vocalist to Maura, whose clear, expressive
\nvoice is as capable of conveying frustration and melancholy on
\nsongs like “I’m Not You” and “St. Mark’s Square” as it is of
\ncelebration on upbeat love songs like “One Heart, One Soul” (the
\nlatter featuring a letter-perfect closing solo from E Street Band
\nguitarist Nils Lofgren). Toward the end of the disc, the sitar of
\n“Right as Rain” and the whispery vocals and hypnotic licks of
\n“Blackberry Rain” and “Sirens” extend the Kennedys’ vision to
\nembrace a psychedelic pop sound that would have been right at home
\non
\nSgt. Pepper’s<\/i>.<\/p>\n
But frankly, the 11 terrific songs that follow this album’s
\nopening title cut were all gravy to me. Rare is it that the first
\ntime I listen to a new CD, I stop after the first song, go back and
\nlisten to it again before moving on. This time, I had to. “Life is
\nLarge” is a knockout power-pop anthem to the fullness of
\npossibilities life has to offer, featuring the aforementioned solos
\nfrom Byrds guitarist Roger McGuinn, and filled with sharp little
\nnuggets of wisdom like “How do you want to be remembered? \/ A
\nraging fire or a dying ember?”<\/p>\n
Like I said before — wow. Three months ago I’d never heard of
\nthe Kennedys. Now I’m confident they’ve produced the best album
\nI’ve heard so far in 1996. Don’t miss it.<\/p>\n