Ben Deily (and he must be sick to the back teeth of this tag line by now) started The Lemonheads with Evan Dando from school but split after three albums and a shit-load of critical praise.
Shortly after returning with his brother Jonno as Pods he split again to go back to school and launch a successful advertising career.
He was back in the new century with Varsity Drag and released this astounding collection in 2006.
Opener "Skinny Ties" ramps it up from the off with the familiar Deily riffage pop-centric vocals then we're into "Billy Ruane", a crunching ode to the "best dressed drunk I ever saw".
"Summertime" is straight in after, then "Miles Of Ocean", guitars redolent of classic Killing Joke but with Deily's ever positive vocals "taking hands across a thousand miles of ocean". Next track "1999" lightens the mood with tinkling piano intro and "2001 just around the bend" before "Look At Me", doop-doop's to the fore reminiscent of some of the greatest power-pop you've ever heard.
In "Starfish" we're back with the crashing guitars again and the tempo slows once more for "My Neighbor Works For Goodby" before we leave this (oh too short) album with "Hey", back with the pop feel he's so good at.
All told "For Crying Out Loud" is the best power-pop (I hate that phrase but you know what I mean) record I've ever heard and seems to have been shamefully overlooked by the masses. If you like your music with punk guitars, pop hooks and a clever dash of humour buy this CD and put the world to rights. It'll brighten your day
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