The Tight Connection

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The Tight Connection album cover
Album Information
EDITOR'S PICK

Total Tracks: 11   Total Length: 36:36

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Probably their weakest album

o.lloyd

I'd certainly go for Out of the Loop first - somewhat unfortunately track 11 is entitled 'September' (despite the album being released months before the tragedy) but it's a better record than this one. Third LP The Cover Up is a more resolutely dancey affair but still rather ace.

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tsis xav toog

akaidrummer

I bought this album on a whim and laughed heartily for 36 minutes 36 seconds. I have low standards when it comes to vocalists achieving proper pitch, but this is laughable. I love the Shaggs, I love the Pastels, I still can't bear to listen to this. Is it really that bad? Give "Call Me" a listen and try not to laugh.

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fun to bop around to

Janny

I love this album, and I love Amy Dykes's voice! It may not be perfectly on pitch at every moment, and that's part of why it works. It's a guy and a girl playing dance beats and singing in a crowded bar. You bop around, enjoy yourself, and don't overanalyze it. I agree that the first few tracks are the best. I always skip "Call Me," but that could be because I've heard the original fifty thousand times and am tired of the song in whatever form it takes.

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2 great tracks.

betterthanyours

>>>Shoot You Down<<>>California Dreaming Again<<< make this at least an "i like it" record. Chicky vocals. Upbeat synth stuff. Kind of like Annie meets Mates of State.

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Needs vocal lessons, pitch

Roodie

I got interested in this CD after hearing a glowing review on NPR's All Things Considered. I was disappointed. Call me boring, but an "improved illustration of Dykes's vocals" is not what I'm looking for. Her slippery, moaning sighs barely qualify as singing. To be honest, there are only a few songs on this CD that I find listenable. In the rest, the singer is so infuriatingly off key that I find myself SHOUTING the correct note just so that I don't have to hear her. Then I turn it off. Download a few tracks--the first 3 are okay--and avoid "Call Me" at all costs.

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They Say All Music Guide

Dan Geller and significant other Amy Dykes braved much hate mail and personal doubt before releasing the follow-up to 2001′s “Out of the Loop.” Having innocently chosen their name as a geographic reference to where they began and partially as a metaphor for their relationship, there was much doubt after September 11 as to whether they would remain I Am the World Trade Center. After smartly opting to keep the tag, their next disc makes no reference — aesthetically or otherwise — to the events surrounding the attacks. Sticking close to the synth pop-influenced material of their debut, the album sports noticeably higher fidelity (although Geller still does much of his production work on a laptop), catchier tunes, and an improved illustration of Dykes’ vocals. Vocoder vocals (“The Postcard”), re-grooved funk loops (“Dancing Alone”), and nouveau tech-pop (“Believe in Me”) are all effectively roped into this relatively short outing (all 11 tracks coming in at a total of just under 37 minutes). Covers such as the the Stone Roses’ “Shoot You Down” and Blondie’s “Call Me” are further indicators of the couple’s keenly mixed affinities for both classic Brit-pop and new wave bubblegum. – Joe Silva

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