Wheatus 'Too Soon Monsoon' album

Just because Wheatus were briefly international pop stars propelled so by the success of a ubiquitous little tune called "Teenage Dirtbag," it doesn't mean they've forgotten where they came from. In fact, most of the band still actually lives there. "There" being The Family Home on Northport, Long Island. You see, Wheatus have a family business, like the Sopranos. That's right, Brendan B. Brown, along with brother Pete and sister Liz have fairly recently checked out on corporate America like Noam Chomsky. But don't be fooled. They've been navigating their own vessel since Day One. Along with bassist Nic di Piero, keyboardist Michael Bellar and backing vocalist Kathryn Froggatt, their business is the creation of near-perfect pop that owes just as much to '70s monoliths like Boston, Fleetwood Mac, Queen and AC/DC as they do to indie their rock heroes, like Walt Mink.

DIRTBAGS & FROGS
With the palpable success of their eponymously titled debut, which went Platinum in the UK, and the aforementioned single that propelled it into the stratosphere, Wheatus engaged audiences around the globe for 2 years straight. They made fans from the UK to Japan to Australia. Hundreds of thousands of them and very enthusiastic ones, too. Nicknamed "Frogs" by the band, these kids would fill big rooms all over the world and bring the members of food and candy and toys. Brendan says, "They actually make things for us. One time someone made me a chocolate plaque of my face. The Frogs are our greatest fans. When you go to shows these groups of them from different towns all meet. It's amazing." If this is not the mark of success, then what is? You want a fanbase? You got a fanbase.

HAND OVER YOUR LOVED ONES
But just because Wheatus were actually signed to Columbia Records for a spell and starting to enjoy the sort of rockstar success status coveted by only a select few, doesn't mean they had a stellar time of it. In fact, even when "Teenage Dirtbag" blew up like TNT back in 2001, they were fighting tooth and nail for their creative freedom. Following the aforementioned 2 years on the road, the band retreated to their studio in 2002 to begin work on their second album Hand Over Your Loved Ones, recruiting a new keyboard player from the UK named Shannon Harris.

From the hook-laden melodrama of "The Song That I Wrote When You Dissed Me" to the funky assed sex stomp of 'Freak On', the psychedelic power pop of "The Deck" to the Zappa goes Bootsy groove of "Dynamite Satchel of Pain," it was an album which contorted rock'n'roll's clichés and spat them out as a series of twisted pop curios. The narrative realities of these songs were very dark - loss, promiscuity, rage, infidelity, violence, grudges - but the melodies were irresistibly pop. The idea seemed to be to trick the listener into singing about something volatile and disturbingly realistic while submerged in a sweet, smiling fantasy. These songs were personal poisons served with a smile.

This was a band that existed to create music as embraceable and familiar as those dusty '45s in your collection being consistently told by the fat cat jackasses upstairs that they "don't hear a single." The last straw was when Brendan, while on tour, was asked to do the impossible- change the very timbre of his voice. The answer was an emphatic "no" followed by the traditional corporate pulling of the plug. Wheatus were on their own. But weren't they always?

HOW SOON IS MONSOON?
2004: Off the road, the Browns, former bassist Mike McCabe, former keyboardist Shannon Harris and Froggatt, who the band had incidentally recruited in Australia and brought back with them, reentered the home studio compound to create album number 3. Hunkered down, learning to push the faders and twiddle the knobs on a room full of new equipment and a stockpile of brilliant new songs, Brendan became a bonafide record producer. The majority of said tunes are featured on the band's latest pop/rock opus, Too Soon Monsoon. The record features 11 in total, kicking out with "Something Good," an anthemic poke at the music biz hit machine whose own pure pop brilliance almost betrays itself. Next up is the spry "In The Melody" complete with its Rush-inspired instrumental break and a lyric extolling the virtues of songwriting. "BMX Bandits" reaches back and grabs childhood with abandon and "The London Sun," likens the ephemeral nature of some relationships to stories in a newspaper and boasts a chorus that is impossible to shake after only a single listen.

"I'd trade all my sunshine for twin towers to hide behind..." starts "Hometown," one of the more heartfelt and eloquent homages to New York City and the tribulation of 9/11 and a palpable leap for Brown in terms of songwriting. "I hope they build them tall again. Until then, your imagination is all that you will have" are the last lyrics you hear before a chorale rendition of James W. Blake and Charles E. Lawlor's "Sidewalks Of New York." The result is transporting, transcendent and absolutely breathtaking.

Too Soon Monsoon closes with a rapturous rock riff reminiscent of Mott The Hoople or T. Rex, featuring Brown doing his best Freddie Mercury. All said, there's nothing not to like here. That is, if you are a fan of well-crafted, passionately performed rock music. Too Soon Monsoon is the best Queen record since The Game, the best Fleetwood Mac record since Tusk and the best Rush record since 2112. Dig it.

Too Soon Monsoon will be released on Montauk Mantis Records on October 18th, 2005 and simultaneously made available on iTunes.

Band
Brendan B. Brown (vocals/guitar); Peter Brown (drums);
Nic di Piero (bass); Michael Bellar (keyboards);
Liz Brown (b.vox); Kathryn Froggatt (b.vox)

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Wheatus - Too Soon Monsoon