I heard Saving Jane’s sugary power-pop
single “Girl Next Door” on internet radio recently, and I liked it so much I wrote to the
label and asked ‘em to send me the CD, despite the fact that we’re dealing
with a band that sounded like they were still nursing their senior prom
hangovers. It was one of those instantly recognizable teen-rock hits that
grabs onto your skull like the facehugger in Alien and pumps waves of
mini-skirt sunshine into your brain like a chewy-gooey narcotic. It’s got
it all, really: cheerleaders, cool chicks, battles over popularity,
jealous boyfriends, hard rock guitars, and a fluffy pop n’ roll chorus
sang by a chirpy chick who looks like Nancy Wilson’s hip kid sister and
who sounds like Michelle Branch, only not so fuckin’ serious all the time.
Pretty awesome, right? Well, the reality is a bit different – Saving Jane
are actually a post-college band from Columbus, Ohio, and their blonde
glamazon singer Marti Dodson actually leans more towards the serious-er
Michelle Branch ‘sensitive tough chick’ aesthetic on most of Girl Next
Door’s tracks, while her band seamlessly glides from alterna-rock, to
glossy pop, and even lite alt-country. I think Marti wants to be Linda Ronstadt, to be honest, and since nobody else is currently vying for that
prize, I bet she gets there, and when she does, I bet she’ll look
excellent in roller skates. Personally, I’m kinda disappointed that we
didn’t get a whole album’s worth of snotty high-school anthems here, but
maybe there’s more to life than evil cheerleaders. Is there?
I heard Saving Jane’s sugary power-pop
single “Girl Next Door” on internet radio recently, and I liked it so much I wrote to the
label and asked ‘em to send me the CD, despite the fact that we’re dealing
with a band that sounded like they were still nursing their senior prom
hangovers. It was one of those instantly recognizable teen-rock hits that
grabs onto your skull like the facehugger in Alien and pumps waves of
mini-skirt sunshine into your brain like a chewy-gooey narcotic. It’s got
it all, really: cheerleaders, cool chicks, battles over popularity,
jealous boyfriends, hard rock guitars, and a fluffy pop n’ roll chorus
sang by a chirpy chick who looks like Nancy Wilson’s hip kid sister and
who sounds like Michelle Branch, only not so fuckin’ serious all the time.
Pretty awesome, right? Well, the reality is a bit different – Saving Jane
are actually a post-college band from Columbus, Ohio, and their blonde
glamazon singer Marti Dodson actually leans more towards the serious-er
Michelle Branch ‘sensitive tough chick’ aesthetic on most of Girl Next
Door’s tracks, while her band seamlessly glides from alterna-rock, to
glossy pop, and even lite alt-country. I think Marti wants to be Linda Ronstadt, to be honest, and since nobody else is currently vying for that
prize, I bet she gets there, and when she does, I bet she’ll look
excellent in roller skates. Personally, I’m kinda disappointed that we
didn’t get a whole album’s worth of snotty high-school anthems here, but
maybe there’s more to life than evil cheerleaders. Is there?