1990 Caroline Recordings

Simply put, this is one of the most criminally overlooked guitar pop albums ever recorded.   That Petrol Emotion received a lot of criticism for this and its predecessor “End of the Millennium Psychosis Blues” because the band’s diversity had them adding a lot of elements to the indie guitar mix that confounded a lot of critics, mainly the ones who loved them in the beginning.   Truth of the matter is that “End of the Millennium…” was overall a subpar album, but “Chemicrazy” is just wonderful.

This disc has everything that’s GOOD about guitar pop.  The hooks are everywhere, from the sweetness of opener ‘Hey Venus’ to the intensity of ‘Blue to Black’ to the dreamy pop of ‘Mess of Words’ to the swing of ‘Tingle.’

Steve Mack’s voice is very 80’s pop and a great melodic counterpart to the guitar interplay of John O’Neill and Raymond Gorman.  Their guitar work impresses even more listening to this disc on headphones, often sounding like a seemless conversation between the two instruments.  So strong is their chemistry that their guitars provide a lyric-free chorus to the aforementioned ‘Blue to Black’ and provide the backbone to the chorus of ‘Another Day.’

There’s really not much more to say.  This disc just makes me feel like I’m on vacation at the beach.  And I don’t wanna go home.

Rating:  4.5 out of 5

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