#Letters to Cleo #Kay Hanley #alternative rock #indie rock #power pop #neo-psychedelia #pop punk #post-grunge #1990s
If this Boston quintet goes down as a ’90s one-hit wonder for the Top 10 “Here & Now,” it won’t be for lack of effort. Originally released by the independent CherryDisc, Aurora Gory Alice was a respectable local seller before Giant reissued it in 1994 (with a fancier booklet but no major changes); aided by exposure on MTV’s Buzz Bin and inclusion on the Melrose Place soundtrack album, “Here & Now” broke big a year after the album’s original release. The record’s airy sonics, Kay Hanley’s soaring vocals and the band’s smart pop-rock songwriting make for a solid, if not especially challenging, effort. “Get on With It” typifies Cleo’s approach — big swathes of guitar swirl set off by pretty singing — but “Rim Shak” features some aggressive riffing that could’ve come from a Soundgarden session, the sunny guitars of “I See” evoke timeless pop imagery and the unplugged “Step Back” offers pleasant pop minimalism.
While the production (again by Mike Denneen) is less intimate and organic on Wholesale Meats and Fish, the band’s second album is better, featuring grittier songs, stronger performances and more stylistic diversity than the debut. Sure, “Fast Way” sounds like the Pixies, but it’s a cool track, bolstered by Greg McKenna’s and Michael Eisenstein’s buzzing guitars and Hanley’s yearning vocals. “Awake,” a playful breakup winner, benefits from a percussive groove (check the handclaps and shakers!). Hanley’s kittenish coo on “Laudanum” is convincingly sexy, and the clever lyrics (“I want you to be like me / It would be so easy if you’d just agree”) help, too. “Little Rosa,” the album’s highlight, is ’60s-influenced jangle-pop genius. “Do What You Want, Yeah” is a discordant, throwaway genre exercise, and “He’s Got an Answer” packs some misdirected hooks that backfire, but “Acid Jed” successfully attacks neo-psychedelia.
With a new label, a new producer (Peter Collins) and a new drummer (Stacy Jones departed to join Veruca Salt and then pick up a guitar and form BMX Girl, the band that became American Hi-Fi), Letters to Cleo made their third and final album. On Go!, Hanley explores the titular theme of dispatching an ex, singing her disillusioned and bitter lyrics (“Find You Dead,” “I’m a Fool,” “Because of You,” “Disappear”) with conviction and power against loud rock-pop that reaches its apogee in the nearly Breeders-like surge of “Anchor.” If the balance of venom and sugar doesn’t quite match the woozy effect of another such combination, absinthe, the album is effective and likable. From: https://trouserpress.com/reviews/letters-to-cleo/
Letters to Cleo was a alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, that originally formed in 1990. The group achieved minor mainstream success, and had a huge following in the indie rock scene, but eventually ended up splitting by 2000. Their name came from the fact that lead singer Kay Hanley had a pen pal named Cleo when she was younger, although the letters she wrote would often be returned. Hanley kept them in a box under her bed marked “Letters to Cleo”, and happened to stumble across the box as the band was attempting to think of a name for itself. From: https://thevogue.com/artists/letters-to-cleo/#bio
