American Hi-Fi

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In Rock music, what is old is often new again. Take drummer Stacy Jones. After stints with critically acclaimed, but marginally commercial groups, Letters To Cleo and Veruca Salt, Jones found himself working on Nina Gordon's "Tonight and the Rest of My Life." For this project Jones wanted to capture the upbeat vibrancy of Cheap Trick. So he linked with guitarist Jamie Arentzen, bassist Drew Parsons and drummer Brian Nolan. American Hi-Fi was launched following the Gordon sessions. Using Jones' native Boston as base, the group began working on songs. In '01 America Hi-Fi's debut hit the stores led by single success "Flavor of the Weak."

They don't get much bigger than "Flavor of the Weak." The ubiquitous American Hi-Fi single got their self-titled debut off to a good start. The question: Is there more here than "Flavor." The answer: Yes. Other Rockers are "Hi-Fi Killer" and "I'm a Fool" with a falsetto vocal chorus. The mid-tempo "Safer On The Outside" and "A Bigger Mood" are strong but the CD has some down spots like "Don't Wait For The Sun. Still, the humorous/sarcastic lyrical approach of "Flavor of the Weak" is prevalent throughout the CD.