REVIEWS

I love a band that can stab you in the forehead with an ice-pick and then wipe off the blood with a silk hanky. *AM Stereo are precisely that type of band. Fiercely indie, loud, sloppy, with unabashedly melodic hooks. *AM Stereo has mastered the art of falling down stairs and landing on their feet. These tracks are as balls-out rocking as Fugazi but with the melodic sensibilities of Soul Asylum.
–Brian Westbye, The Noise, May 2001

Very fucking good pop/rock out of Boston. This is their debut album and it's charged! Full of yummy guitar riffs and whiney, melodic vocals. Like Superchunk? 'Cause if you do, the whole album is good, but I'm particularly fond of "Southern Rock Radio" which includes the lyric "No sleep 'til Gainesville." HaHaHa! I friggin' love it! I'll be watching for anything these kids do in the future.
–Alise, Shredding Paper, July 2001

The layers and layers of distorted, crunchy guitars are piled on so thick its like drowning in the deep end of a pool filled with molasses.
–J. Lianna Ness, Instant, February/March 1999

*AM Stereo has a boisterous, often celebratory sloppiness thrown over a sturdy pop framework that made me think of two legendary bands. I'll just say one was from Minneapolis, while the other resides in Chapel Hill. They display some of the same heart and guts.
–Matt, Superstar in Stereo, October 31, 2000

One gets the sense that the band exerts a potentially fierce amount of energy in the live format...the riffs stick with you far beyond listening. This is a great album for anyone new to alternative slots in rock 'n' roll who wants to engage in angst-colored pop without having to rely on the less kind Korns or Rob Zombies of the world.
–Anne Weeks, The Weekly Dig, June 7-14, 2000

This is the kind of band which, even if they sucked, I'd wanna be their pal. They don't suck a bit. You could run these guys through a Juicemaster and not wring one drop of pretense out of 'em.
–Joe Coughlin, The Noise, February 2000

While vocal responsibilities are passed between Steve Crotty, Brooke Fletcher and Jeff Ahearn like a bottle of Listerine at a homeless shelter, it becomes painfully evident that these boys couldn't carry a tune if it had handles. Funny thing though, it doesn't stop this self-titled debut from being exceptionally explosive.
–Alan Levesque, Northeast Performer, February 2000

*AM Stereo pushes the aural boundaries to the limits with gutwrenching vocals, Marshall stacks cranked to 11 and drumming that's as volatile as a Ted Kazinsky letter bomb.
–Douglas Sloan, Metronome, May 2001

Imagine please, a type of indie rock that has in it a surprisingly comfortable stadium-like sound, a too sunny and hot southern rock feel, and a combination of thick guitars and melodic vocals. It's likely that the band you begin to imagine is a lot like *AM Stereo. Everything in this record somehow contains an element of energy, even the softer parts of the songs. The choruses of every song somehow remind me of the last chorus of the last song of a great band's second encore. These guys definitely have some real talent and are pretty fun to listen to. With that in mind, along with their abundance of energy, I highly doubt they put on a bad live show.
–Sore #12

After attending a record release party a while ago my brother was so impressed by *AM Stereo that he mailed me a copy of their disc "Suffocation Town". And after just one spin I was pretty happy he thought of me. After a few more listens, I was ecstatic. While it certainly has enough originality to sustain the edgy pop fan's yearnings, some of the tunes are reminiscent of incredible bands that have dabbled in this genre and have sadly bitten the dirt (Doughboys, Naked Raygun, Sicko). *AM Stereo is a fine band definitely worth keeping an eye on.
–Mike Sweeney, Swizzle Stick, June 2001

We think we're going to take a stand here and drop the much reviled "emo" bomb. Here is our suggestion: do you like the thoughtful punk rock played in the fashion that the hooded sixteen-year-old kids seem to like these days? OK, good– we do too– let us now go out in the world and support this band.
–Luke O'Neil, The Weekly Dig, April 11, 2001

I really enjoyed this record but I have a hard time putting into words exactly why I really enjoy it. I think the hardest part is that I really can't find many bands to compare *AM Stereo. They have elements of so many bands that no one sound really describes them or does them any justice, but I'll try. Take some old punk roots à la Screeching Weasel, add just a drop of say, Wilco and top it off with some Superchunk. I can honestly say there is not one bad song on this record.
–Tom, The New Scheme #3, September 2001

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