Don_Krider's Full Review: What Goes On by The Sighs
The Sighs were a wonderful, melodic power pop band in the early 1990's who released a couple of acclaimed albums, had no chart impact and vanished by 1996.
Before their unfortunate demise, the band released one truly incredible pop album full of irresistible, soaring, harmony-filled ballads and gut-kicking rock 'n' roll, "What Goes On" in 1992.
My first taste of the band was turning on FM stations in Cleveland, Ohio, and across New York state as I took the family on a vacation to Niagara Falls, New York, in 1992.
Those stations seemed to explode that summer with a merciless drum beat that demanded your attention as the intro to The Sigh's single, "Think About Soul," followed by power-chorded guitars and a sweet lead vocal (with answering band harmony on the chorus): "...now I only think about soul (soul), I think about (soul)..."
The catchy nature of the song was such that I couldn't get it out of my head. As soon as I had the chance, I bought the album containing the tune, "What Goes On," breaking my usual "I must hear two songs from an album before I consider buying it" rule --- I wasn't disappointed. "What Goes On" satisfies on every level of musical enjoyment.
The band:
Lead singer Bobby La Roche, with his Rob Lowe good looks, was The Sighs sweet-voiced frontman/guitarist. Along with lead guitarist/vocalist Matthew Cullen and bass guitarist/vocalist Tommy Pluta, La Roche wrote many of the band's songs. The pounding pulsebeat of this fabulous foursome was drummer Tommy Borawski.
As a unit, the band's sound is something of a mix of Matthew Sweet and The Posies (with your usual dose of 1960s/1970s power pop influences equally obvious). The ballads are rich in melody. The rockers are breath-taking in execution, filled with ringing guitar sounds and beautiful harmonies.
The producers:
Ed Stasium produced the album. His credits include The Ramones, Julian Cope, The Misfits, Love Nut, Joan Jett, Hoodoo Gurus, Living Colour, Marshall Crensahw, The Smithereens, Jeff Healy, Motorhead, The Searchers and Carly Simon, among others.
The associate producers were Tommy Allen, drummer for the legendary Syrancuse power poppers The Flashcubes, and John Denicola.
Denicola may be a familiar name as a songwriter --- he co-wrote two monster hits on the "Dirty Dancing" movie soundtrack: the # 1 charting hit from 1987 "I've Had The Time Of My Life" (performed by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes) and a # 4 chart hit with "Hungry Eyes" in 1988 (performed by Eric Carmen). Denicola also was bass player for Paul Young and Corey Hart in the early 1980s.
Denicola had a major impact on this album, co-writing three of the 12 tunes on The Sighs "What Goes On" with band members. Pretty heady stuff for a new band, I'm sure (other acts to record songs written by Denicola include John Waite and Eddie Money). Denicola produced a brilliant debut power pop album for Kara's Flowers in more recent years, among other projects (including forming Omad Records in 1999).
The album:
Twelve very strong tracks showcasing the band's strong sense of multi-part harmonies, rich melodies and brilliant songcraft (the band wrote or co-wrote all 12 tracks). Released on Charisma Records in 1992.
The full-color, 12-page CD booklet contains no biographical information (not helpful since the band has no website of its own) and no lyrics, but the inner six pages open up to become a poster featuring a color photo of the band.
The tracks:
"Think About Soul," "Make You Cry," "Can't Wait 'Till Tomorrow," "Diamonds In Blue," "Can't Refuse Your Love," "Heroes Are Made For Falling," "Living In Dreams," "Can't Reach You," "No Caroline," "Jane," "All I Want Is You" and "Testify."
The best tracks:
"Think About Soul":
Written by lead singer Bobby La Roche, this is a glorious rocker propelled by the band's drummer, Tommy Borawski, throughout it's 3 minutes and 52 seconds of power pop heaven.
Slashing guitars highlight the track as La Roche sings (with the band singing an answering call in the chorus) about a guy who has been fooled too often in love:
"Used to think that I / would never be the fool again / then I realized my lunatic offense / close my eyes / I'm never going back again / changed my mind / now I think about soul / think about keeping my self-control..."
"Make You Cry":
La Roche and Denicola wrote "Make You Cry," an uptempo ballad (in the spirit of The Raspberries' "Let's Pretend"/The Beatles' "You're Going To Lose That Girl") in which the singer tries to warn a girl about her bad news boyfriend:
"He tells you over and over / there's not a thing to worry about / when he holds you it has never been warmer / but there underlies a shadow of doubt / .... / he fools you over and over, why? / he'll make you cry..."
"Can't Wait 'Till Tomorrow":
Lead guitarist Matthew Cullen continues the strong lyric writing of the band on "Can't Wait 'Till Tomorrow," a slow, waiting-to-explode tune that eventually does detonate with a harmony-drenched chorus:
"The sun came over the bay bridge / and it burned the fog all away / a short trip to the west coast / but it's dragging by on this day / I lie in bed high above the city / fourteen floors from the ground / staring out of the window thinking / I wish that she was around / can't wait 'till tomorrow, baby / when I'm home in your arms again..."
"Heroes Are Made For Falling":
La Roche and Denicola strike again on this catchy-as-anything rocker. The melody is lovely, the guitar-work understated and the harmonies sweet enough to make The Beach Boys feel the vocal band competition, as La Roche sings of a guy who wins the girl and then feels like running away from marriage:
"Victory was mine / and all I had to sign / were promises that tied me / all alone, looking up at you / and trying to place the time / when I saw you go by me / heroes are made for falling / that's why I'm running, that's why I'm running away..."
"Jane":
La Roche reminds me of John Lennon's late-period Beatles' work, a bit retro-rocker '50s tribute with "Abbey Road" songcraft, combined with a searing guitar solo, a spirited drum fill and some honky-tonk piano (by guest musician Kevin Savigar) that underscores the bright harmonies here:
"Jane, don't tell me that we're through / oh, Jane, I'm so in love with you / Jane, you're breaking me in two / oh, Jane, stop making me a fool..."
"Testify":
On La Roche's ballad "Testify," the gentle acoustic guitar underscores the singer's testiment to the girl he loves, with the band almost gospel-like in its angelic backing harmonies as La Roche sings:
"Stay the night / testify / I'd do anything / if you were mine / I saw the light / that's in your eyes / I saw everything / stay tonight / I'd do anything, anything / if you were mine..."
Recommendation:
If you can find The Sighs' "What Goes On," grab it. Though hard to find, used copies (and still sealed copies, too) do turn up on Half.Com, Amazon.Com and Ebay.Com on a regular basis.
It's a wonderful slice of power pop heaven. Fans of The Beatles and Beach Boys will enjoy this.
Related sites on the web:
John Denicola (associate producer): http://www.johndenicola.com
Tommy Allen & The Flashcubes: http://www.theflashcubes.com
Ed Stasium (producer) discography: http://members.aol.com/byrdawg/disco.html
You might also like:
"Live On Sunset Strip" (Deluxe Edition of 2 CDs and a DVD recorded during the 2005 reunion tour) By Raspberries, a 2007 Rykodisc release with liner notes by Bruce Springsteen and featuring a photo of John Lennon in a Raspberries sweatshirt in the CD booklet, produced by Mark Linett (Grammy-nominated for Brian Wilson's "Smile") and Eric Carmen (Grammy-nominee as a songgwriter for the soundtrack to "Footloose"): http://www.epinions.com/content_393207123588
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