Reviews
Now Wave Magazine:
If "girl-fronted pop-punk" is really a genre unto itself, then The Unlovables' debut album is
unquestionably the best g.f.p.p. album to hit record shops since the release of the CLASSIC
Josie and the Pussycats movie soundtrack. The bubblicious Crush*Boyfriend*Heartbreak is the
perfect summertime record, but I know I'll love it just as much come this winter---when I'm
cold and gloomy and totally jonesing for music that makes me feel all warm and sunny on the inside.
You say there are no good pop-punk bands? Suck it, Sam! The Unlovables play pop-punk the way Scott
Rolen plays third base: unfuckingbelievably well! Every song on this album is insanely catchy,
super-peppy, and sweet as a Slurpee. Hallie Bullit possesses not only the natural ability to write
perfect pop songs but also a dynamite voice that's by turns cute, spunky, vulnerable, pretty, sassy,
saccharine, dorky, and exuberant---all in a good way! Even when she's singing about gut-wrenching heartache,
she exudes a sunny positive energy and pure likeability that are rare in this age of generic sound-alike
singers. Musically, she and her band mates crank it with relentless joie de vivre, firing out sugary,
energetic, feelgood pop-punk that hits the spot like a cold sip of Coca-Cola on a sweltering August day.
Propelled by Christian Stefos's tasty guitar leads, Hallie's chunky bass lines, and Mikey Erg's frenzied
drumming, the band's punchy attack wraps plenty of crunch around these songs' soft, chewy middle. And
once you throw in those gooey, heaven-sent, piled-high harmonies...Forget about it! This is pop bliss
personified, brother: hooks galore, melodies extraordinaire, crisp production, and harmonies TO DIE FOR!!!
I could listen to this album 15 times in a row; and tonight, I just might.
If you still don't get what I'm saying, imagine Josie and the Pussycats with the craft & emotional
depth of That Dog. While all these songs are the very epitome of ear candy, they sure ain't lightweight.
Crush*Boyfriend*Heartbreak is a concept album that addresses the three main stages of the love experience:
the scary thrill of infatuation, the spine-tingling excitement of falling (and being) in love, and the
unbearable heartbreak that inevitably awaits you in the end. Knowing that it always ends in death or
misery, why do humans keep falling in love? Because it's WORTH it---which is why love is the most
significant theme in the history of popular music, literature, and film. Here Hallie takes on that
theme with wit, charm, and honesty---connecting whether she's singing about a hopeless crush ("I've Cried 4 U"),
an ecstatic moment of romantic bliss ("Today's The Day {I Finally Kissed You"}), or an intensely painful
breakup ("Inconsolable"). And lyrically, she spins off witticisms that would make Dr. Frank jealous:
"I looked on the map today/Counted seven states between us/If you don't count New Jersey/Which I don't"....
"Flipside panned your new CD/But you still mean the world to me/What do they know anyway?/After all
they're from L.A." Especially hilarious is "Feeling All Emo (Since I Broke Up With You)",
in which this self-professed "pop-punk girl" laments, "I'm so lonely so misunderstood/No
one can relate/No wait, the Get Up Kids could/Jimmy Eat World understands my pain/I'll sit
here listening to Clarity again and again/Even Dashboard Confessional's pleasing me".
Brilliant! In this day and age of casual hookups, mean-spirited dating shows, anonymous cybersex,
and celebrity porn tapes, it's nice to know that someone out there still believes in love.
A year ago, you may recall that I was all jazzed up about The Unlovables' debut EP. But on way too
many occasions, I've heard bands wow me with killer debuts and then let me down with sub-par full
lengths. I'm happy to report that that didn't happen with The Unlovables. A year later, the group
sounds tighter & stronger---and production-wise, Crush*Boyfriend*Heartbreak wails ass on The Punk Rock
Club EP. As a songwriter, Hallie has proven that she can pen a whole album's worth of fab tunes. There's
even the all-important smash hit. Last time, it was "The Mike Herrera Song". This time, it's "I Want A
Boy". Or is it "Bein' In Love"? Fuck, I don't know!
All in all, Crush*Boyfriend*Heartbreak is as satisfying as a Kids In the Hall marathon or a 22-ounce
glass of Bass right off the tap. Damn, what a great year it's been for Whoa Oh Records! - Rutledge
AMP Magazine:
"Do you know how rad today is? It is super-rad
times infinity!" Wow, that's a really great day and a great example
of the exuberance found in this CD. It's not all one emotion, but
all emotions portrayed on this are on super- overdrive.
This is perfect pop, for un-perfect people. Easily recommendable,
this is one of the best pop punk albums that I have heard in awhile. - JC
Read Magazine:
Insanely catchy pop-punk that'll slap a
smile on your face. Super cutesy female vox sing songs about love and love
lost (mostly love lost), that'll warm your heart while you bounce around.
They remind me of the Eyeliners, but more Go-Gos girlish. The Unlovables
are without a doubt one of the best new pop-punk bands around. Just check
out these lyrics: "I'm a pop-punk girl/ I like sunny days/ stupid jokes
and a good Ramones song..." I want to marry this entire band, including
the prerequisite male drummer.
Go Metric #19:
Collectively, the Unlovables are the most
upbeat group of people in history. You may think you've got good credentials
as an optimist, but one listen to the good-time feelings radiated by Crush*Boyfriend*Heartbreak
and you'll realize you've got some work to do. Even when they're singing about heartache,
the Unlovables give the sense that tomorrow's going to be a better day (all of which is
sufficiently tempered by experience so that they never come across as naive.) They're so
good that I can overlook their endorsement of the Yankees ("If You Were Here") and emo
rock ("Feelin' All Emo [Since I Broke Up With You]), and that's saying a lot!
Shredding Paper:
Here's a contender for my top 10 list
for this year... hell, it's a contender for number one on the list. Fantastic
pop punk, with all the hooks and crunchy guitars that make for a perfect
disc, with a sound much like bands on the Crackle label out of England.
This is a concept album; following a relationship from tingly longing
beginnings to first kiss to bitter end. Even though it's a pop punk
record and you'd think it might fall into the trap of a one note effort
that follows convention, that is far from the case. As the songs move
through the different levels of the relationship, they change in speed,
tone and maintain the proper emotional level for the subject matter
lyrically; effervescence and excitement in the beginning, exuberance in
the middle, and anger and resignation at the end. But it's all done over
some great pop melody and it is sure to be one of my favorite discs of
this year. - Steve
Punk Planet:
The Unloveables [sic] play crunchy power pop with
dual lady harmonizing and cutesy lyrics. I'm immediately reminded of the Dance
Hall Crashers if they lost the ska influence and sounded more like Green Day.
I liked this. It was melodic, nicely produced, and the harmonies were sweet. - Krystle Miller
girlpunk.net:
Three cheers for catchy, earnest, "super-rad times infinity"
love. The Unlovables' debut album Crush*Boyfriend*Heartbreak follows the titularthree stages
of a relationship with such a great sense of honesty and humor that by the time it's over,
you can't help but want them back. I don't know if this is the sort of thing a "typical"
music critic (like,a jaded 40-year-old man in his undersized apartment) would go for --
but for any girl who loves a boy and is tickled by allusions to Weezer's "Blue Album" and
the Cartoon Network, Crush*Boyfriend*Heartbreak is nothing short of clairvoyant. When
Hallie Bullit sings about the magic of that first kiss or cruising in her mom's
Accord, it makes me feel like she's been reading my Lisa Simpson diary. But no! Apparently
these situationsare universal, and The Unlovables have a knack for spot-on pop
culturereferences. The lyrics reflect realistic circumstances ("We're both sobusy,
we work so hard and / I never see you, it's totally retarded") and inevitable disappointment
("I've heard it said two people in love should never go to bed mad / but they never
said nothin' bout going to bedfeeling devastated and sad"). The album goes through the
phases of wanting, having and losing, andconsequently contains songs to fit moods of
desire, exuberance and total despair. The snidely titled "Feelin' All Emo (Since I
Broke Up With You)"is sung from the perspectiveof a girl so down in the dumps she can't
listen to her usual favorite albums: "I'm so lonely, so misunderstood / Noone can relate --
no wait, the Get Up Kids could!" However, this band does not switch to automatic ballad
mode as soon as the tears start flowing,opting instead to keep the pop punk pep cranked
up high throughout the ordeal. It's only a shame the CD ends with "Inconsolable." Cause
The Unlovables are just so likable that you really hope things will work out. - Andrea Benvenuto
Razorcake #22:
It's getting to the point where I know I've got to make a
conscious effort not to listen to this CD any more, at least not for a few days. At first,
I thought, what harm would come of me listening to it twice in a row? It's not a bad CD.
The songs are definitely more pop than punk, but the lyrics are catchy and you can't help
but tap your toe a bit in time with the music, bop your head, maybe shimmy and jiggle your
shoulders a little. You start listening to the album at least once every day. Pretty soon,
at random moments you find yourself absentmindedly humming a little tune, singing a couple
of lyrics. In no time, you're waking up with an Unlovables song in your head, every morning,
seven days in a row, and you know you're hooked. There's something addictive about this album,
I swear. Don't start listening to it unless you're perfectly immune to infectious girl-fronted
pop punk rock.
Maximum Rock N Roll:
An awesome blast of female vocal pop punk! From the folks who
brought us the Ergs, this moves me the way the Muffs, Discount, and Fifth Hour Hero moved me
on first listen. A breath of fresh air from all the veteran guy pop punk bands. The song "Feelin'
all emo since I broke up with you" is truly awesome. One of the year's best full lengths for sure! - Ray Lujan
George Tabb's endnotes:
Whoa Oh Records. Now that's the schnizzle, fizzle! You know what I mean, dawag?
Word up, bands like the Steinways (editor's note, not a Whoa Oh band and probably won't be), The Ergs, and the
incredible and soon to be the next big thing, The Unlovables. Don't believe me? Check out their album "Crush,
Boyfriend, Heartbreak." It has all the markings and sounds of the next Blondie/Advil Levine. Great punk tunes,
hot chick singer (my pal, Hallie), cool-ass guitarist Frank , from frankenheather, and congs like "Today's
The Day (I Finally Kissed You)" "I've Cried 4U" and "Counting Sheep." Okay, the songs aren't about the
dark prince-but they rule anyway. Get this!
Jersey Beat:
If there was ever a band to whom the oft banded about phrase "putting the POP
back in pop-punk" applied it would be The Unlovables. Crush, Boyfriend, Heartbreak is so loaded with sticky
sweet pop songs and harmonies that you'll probably devlelop a bad case of diabetes before the album's over.
Lead by the duel vocals of bassist Hallie Bullit ( who's responsible for some of the best couplets I've heard
in a long time: "do you know how rad today is / it's super -rad times infinity" from Today's the Day, "we're
both so busy we work so hard / and I never see you / it's totally retarded" from Vacation and "I'm so lonely so
minunderstood / no one can relate - no wait the Get Up Kids could" from Feelin' All Emo) and Chelsea Lacatena
and driven by the sonic guitar dogpile of Frank Leone and Christian Stefos and the solid backbeat of Nj's
uber-drummer Mikey Erg - Crush... is the audio equivalent of riding the Tilt - a- Whirl whilst downing a whole
tub of cake frosting. When it's all over you're dizzy, a little queasy but you've definitley had one of the best
times of your life. - Oliver Lyons
Ox Fanzine:
Hey, mal ehrlich: Wie soll einen ein
Album entt�uschen, das so einen Titel hat? Okay, das Bandfoto auf der
R�ckseite l�sst nochmal kurz zweifeln - unvorteilhaft getroffen, w�rde
ich sagen -, aber dann l�uft der erste Song, und egal was das Wetter
drau�en vor der T�r macht, in deinem Zimmer scheint die Sonne! "Putting
the POP back in pop-punk" hat das ein US-Rezensent genannt, und das
trifft bei diesem - wie k�nnte es auch anders sein - von Mass Giorgini
produzierten Album den Nagel genau auf den Kopf. Pop-Punk vom allerfeinsten,
dazu noch "girl-fronted", s�� wie Zuckerwatte, aber doch mit dem n�tigen
Punk-Wumms, mehrstimmigem Gesang, viel "Dibdidiii-dibdidii" und "Uh-huh-huh-uhuhu",
aber, und das empfindet man dieser Tage schon beinahe wieder als wohltuend, keinem
Synthiegepipse, sondern der Kraft der zwei Gitarren und hier und da
noch etwas Schellenkranzgeplingel. Eine neue Band aus New York, die
alles richtig macht, und wer sich auch nur ansatzweise f�r klassischen
(Power-)Pop-Punk interessiert, muss hier zugreifen. Mehr von diesem
Label, dessen Name ja wohl Programm ist. - Joachim Hiller
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