By Deuce

When’s the last time you heard a certified, verified, and well qualified hit record? If you’ve got to think longer than five seconds, quickly hit up “Still Waiting”, the first number on Pretty Crimes’ Every Moment All At Once album.

Then kick back and prepare to be transported…

The song is a sure-fire, can’t miss, ready made for film, television, or commercial banged out production. From the opening notes of the obese keyboard chords, augmented by the possibly tubed electric guitar, to the pregnant moments when the beat—containing live drums—kicks in, this one is a winner.

It never hurts when you’ve got a talented vocalist paired with a gifted melody, which is certainly the case on this tune. But the track itself has a swing and a shuffle to it, the bass is holding everything together in the nether part of the world, and you can just envision some leading man or leading lady driving over the Golden Gate in a major motion picture flick to this one, staring—and feeling—while you watch and likely do the same.

We’re talking radio play here, daytime at that, Top 40 any station, if not Top 10. If Pretty Crimes hasn’t put out the single and video yet (the album itself is primed for a 02/02/2024 release), somebody swiftly ask these gentlemen to stop messing around and make it happen already.

One can endow much of the same sentiment on “Madeline”, though it moves in a decidedly different trajectory. Personally, this reviewer has always been partial to women with that name so, to say he found the cut a little prepossessing is something of an understatement.

However, this time, it’s rightfully so. Our man with the feathery tenor assumes the lead vox again (he was on “Moment”, too), he gets nifty backing by those with lower vocal tones for the harmonies, and the gang pulls out the acoustic guitar and goes for broke on it. Granted, there’s an attractive rim shot (which sounds so different played live, as opposed to the programmed variety) in the drums and a hefty dosage of bass holding down the fort with equal aplomb.

But the melody is beauteous, the synths sound like the air itself, and anyone with any sort of sensitivities will be wondering right along with the singer, “Madeline, where have you gone?”

You just might need to pick up this album to find out.