Sweet Talk
Pickup Lines (12XU Records)
Reviewed by Chase Hoffberger, Fri., Feb. 1, 2013
Sweet Talk
Pickup Lines (12XU Records)Front to back in 30 minutes and not a song that runs past four, the first Sweet Talk item to get pulled from the Trailer Space Records racks will have you reaching for the repeat button as soon as it hits its "Last Dance." Pickup Lines dishes punk candy from North Texas transplant Stephen Svacina, whose confident whine goes great on hard-luck firebomb "Put You Right Back" and the distorted Cheap Trick power popping through "Stop in the Line." Paramount to the 11-cut album's charm is the sleek rhythmic lead guitar work that Church Shoes' double-timer Mitch Frazier dishes en masse, with time mostly spent between breakneck solos ("Live to Die"), berserk Chuck Berry riffs ("No Vacancies"), and locking in with Svacina on a quick build ("Same Place"). Punk, brash, and over in a flash. Now that's some Sweet Talk.
