Wow...this band gets the "best un-heard band" award for the year 2000. My friend took a trip to Norway a few months back and he brought back with him this album. He knew this was one album the folks at Decapolis just had to review and I must admit that what my friend found over in Norway is quite a gem.
Three young (I'm pretty sure still in High School) girls bring us what is one of the best pop-punk albums of the year, yet barely anyone in the United States has heard of them... until now! The production is right on for an indie release, the guitars are driving and the vocals are melodic. Two vocalist seem to be sharing the vocals on this album, mixing their vocal stylings together to add more and more to the pop bliss via their contagious harmonies. The guitars play more than just your basic power chords, and the drums do quite a good job at keeping the pace going. Plus there is none of that hyper-beat punk drumming thats been more than overdone. The only downside is the lyrics themselves. Nothing really too deep as far as lyrics go, but instead pretty much straight up "Sunday School" type stuff. But I will give them a break since English is not their first language. So take my advice and get your hands on this one. Then you can say you had their album before a label such as Tooth and Nail, Lookout, or Asian Man Records picks them up.
B+
Other coverage for this album
Decapolis 2000Reviewed by JamesI remember being informed at some point that Umbrella was a girl band. Immediately visions of the Donnas and the Dance Hall Crashers started popping up in my head. After listening to this album in it's entirety, I have to say that these ladies are quite talented. In a superficial sense, Umbrella resembles the second-wave punk rock that still runs rampant throughout the Berkley scene. However, the…Decapolis 2000Reviewed by ChrisOkay, what if someone decided that it would be a good idea to record a CD of Sunday School tunes with a slight bit of punk/indie rock edge? That's what this sounds like to me. I'm not saying it's bad, but the lyrics and melodies are so simple that I find it hard to take them seriously, even though the ideas are certainly nice. Sonically the quality isn't the greatest, but still, I could see this…
