“Chase Park” CD reviews

Translations courtesy of Jelmer van Lenteren

Oor magazine (Netherlands) online review

“When I’m listening to Magnapop, I’m 18 again. What a compelling guitar band they were in the rather serious American indie-rock scene of the early nineties! Singer Linda Hopper wasn’t too obviously good-looking and her voice wasn’t pristine. Still, everyone fell in love with her. Magnapop was unpretentious and disarming.”

Excerpt from Oor print review: “Magnapop still make smooth guitar rock… Awesome! I still can’t resist their music!”

Heaven magazine (Netherlands)

“Magnapop? Are they still alive? Oh yes, and they’ve still got Linda Hopper and Ruthie Morris as their standard-bearers. Not much has changed since their early days in the mid-Nineties, but anyone with a nostalgic longing longs for their catchy punk-pop will be well-served with their brand new CD, Chase Park. Even though Magnapop’s sound is familiar, the songs are still very powerful, with all sorts of highlights that can be compared to their best work.” – Eric van Domburg Scipio

RifRaf magazine (Belgium)

“Singer Linda Hopper and Ruthie Morris are the ever-charming key figures of Magnapop. In 1992, Michael Stipe was the producer of their debut EP. Ever since, they have been making unpretentious punk rock with a cheerful twist. Time hasn’t changed anything about their recognizable sound. Chase Park won´t really surprise you, but it won´t disappoint you either. Q-Tip, Jesus and Futue Forward will rock your ears. A great time is guaranteed when Magnapop bring their music to the live arena on their Belgian tour in May and June.” (OW)

FileUnder.nl (Netherlands)

“In the early Nineties, when Ruthie Morris and Linda Hopper toured through the Netherlands with their band, I bought a T-shirt: green, with a red logo. A few years later – it must have been at the time of the tour for their third record, Rubbing Doesn’t Help – my T-shirt had been discoloured, so I bought a new one. Then for many years we didn’t hear anything from Magnapop – until 2003, when they gave a concert in the Netherlands again. I bought my third, identical T-shirt. As if there were still a few boxes underneath Linda Hopper’s bed. Three years after that, they released their fourth album, Mouthfeel. Once again there wasn’t much difference between the new album and its former ones. Of course, their self-titled debut surprised everyone and it would be impossible for another, later album to have the same effect: the first cut is the deepest. But I would never go so far as to label the albums that followed as trite. It took Magnapop four years to come with a new album this time: their fifth album, Chase Park. But you certainly can’t tell. No staleness, no songs that sound like they’ve had years of studio work spent on them:more of the same. Twelve cherry,-fresh pop songs with rough guitars and Linda Hopper’s voice-to-fall-in-love-with. Next month I’ll get hold of my fourth t-shirt.”

“Mouthfeel” reviews:

PopMatters

“…delivering 11 tight, exciting new songs without a dud in the midst, the band never forgets what it means to kick the hell back into a melody.”

Washington Post:

“…Magnapop’s long-forgotten lesson — one in abundance on the band’s new disc, “Mouthfeel” — is that being “edgy” sometimes is just a matter of playing it cool.”

Creative Loafing:

“It’s strange to suggest that more than 15 years after the band’s formation it has hit a stride, but the urgent bop, foot-stomping guitar crunch and undeniable melodiousness are pretty insistent in Magnapop’s charms.”

bbc.co.uk:

“…Catchy as syphilis melodies, jangly guitars that go loud/quiet loud/quiet and a vocalist with a cute voice….If you like the poppier element of Guided by Voices, Imperial Teen or Lush then this is the album for you.”

Catchy as syphilis melodies? Hmm…

Kitty Magik:

“So authentic is the album’s ’90s sound that it’s as though the band’s home town of Atlanta, Georgia, is still stuck in 1996. If that’s the case, I think I’ll be moving down there as soon as possible.”

INK 19:

“…definitely a record to listen to while driving around on a summer day with the windows down.”