“Baby let’s fall in love – it’s the best part in breaking up!”

I can’t help wondering how it is possible for Steve Ward, Ross Sackler and Michael Giblin to make me feel this good. Most of their Cherry Twister music strikes me like... well, no other music.

This music is impossible! Don’t Forget Your Man - it’s so bouncy that I feel dizzy. Sparkle – that twisting beat, that melody, that harmony… Meteorite – that melody, that harmony, that wah-wah guitar… Charlotte B. – it’s magical (how can this music be real?). Then comes I’m Gonna Be the Lonely Boy Tonight and I end up jumping joyfully all around my room. And this is actually a sad song? Whatta..?

Then it’s Leila – what a pretty tune! But there are even better things to come. She’s Gone is one of the prettiest and saddest songs I’ve ever heard. I remember crying along with this song over and over again about a year and a half ago. Still, Maryann might be better than anything we’ve heard so far on this album… It’s insanely sweet and powerpoppy. I’ve listened to that song like 100 times and I never get tired of it. Then there are also Black Summer, Brighten up and Kinda Like a Star, all of which are great songs.

But then comes the small problem. After 12 tracks the album still continues – with four more songs! Personally, I think 16 tracks is too much, but which tracks should be removed, then? I’ve had some doubts about She's in Love Again, but some people really like it, so it wouldn’t be nice to remove it. On the other hand, American Nightlife isn’t a real song, so it might be a good choice. But if it was removed, there would still be too many songs. I wouldn’t remove any of tracks 1-5 or 7-12, and Til I'm Blue, Careful (Can't Fall Again) and Why Won't You Believe in Me? are also really pretty songs, so I wouldn’t want to give up on them either.

So, there really isn’t any kind of a problem about this album. None of the songs on this album is bad (or even too mediocre), so why complain?

Cherry Twister is the ultimate anti-depression medicine. I really believe this stuff has affected me more than I even realize. It’s absolutely sweet, happy and sentimental. Could music get any better? Well, I guess it could, but I’m not so sure if it would make me this happy.

Also, thanks to my recent listening of David Fagin of The Rosenbergs, Steve Ward now totally sounds like him, and vice versa. It’s kind of a nice little confusion, although this isn’t anything compared to the mix-up of Andy Sturmer of Jellyfish, Steve Bertrand of The Tories, Jon Rubin of The Rubinoos, Doug Powell and Mark Bacino, all of whom sound like each other quite a lot…

A separate analysis on Steve Ward’s solo work will be presented in the near future. That stuff is pretty awesome, too.

At Home with Cherry Twister (1999) - sound samples at amazon.com