Bloody Chicletts - Presenting... (1996)

Yet another in a long string of '90s bands who expected their exposure to be widened upon signing with the big boys. Presenting...Bloody Chicletts, the one and only album from the Vancouver, BC-based quartet, was unleashed in Canada via BMG, but never saw international release, including the States. The album did however clock in at #184 in the 200 best power pop albums of all time list in the recently published Shake Some Action power-pop guidebook. I'm racking my noggin thinking of more established bands to liken them to - perhaps Fountains of Wayne by way of another Vancouver, Pluto, whom the Chicletts were contemporaries of. There's a plethora of spunk, but nothing in the way of bona-fide "punk" on Presenting. Whirring keyboards, employed in moderation, whet the taste buds that much more. Shake Some Action endorses the opening "She's a Freak" as the keeper here, but for my money, the mellower "Built In My World" packs the most potent hook. At any rate, you can't go wrong with this criminally ignored jewel of an album.

01. She's a Freak
02. On & On
03. Built In My World
04. Kaos
05. Landslide
06. Suffocate
07. Radioheadache
08. Broken Stem
09. Revel On
10. Room 24

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