Chicago Reader - "smarts and heart"
Chicago Reader, January 23, 2004
Monica Kendrick, Spot Check
Ruth Buzzy, 1/24/04, Beat Kitchen
This trio got its start as a duo in Bloomington in the mid-90s, then took on Busker Soundcheck's Paul Kamp as bassist when it moved to Chicago in '97. Mission Statement (Veronica) is only the band's second album, but it sounds like they put their downtime to good use. Mostly they play an intelligent, slightly blustery brand of pop rock, like XTC with the fuzz turned up, but it's in the uncharacteristic stuff--the goofball country number "Porchlight," the quiet, pleading melody of "You Still Believe in Me"--that their smarts and heart really show. This is a release party.