Chewing All The Scenery

The Rock*A*Teens “Go Tell Everybody”

The Rock*A*Teens’ music from their original run in the ’90s was awash in a heavy reverb that made their songs sound nostalgic and majestic, and accentuated the grandiosity of Christopher Lopez’s wildly emotive voice. “Go Tell Everybody,” the first song to be released from the first record of their recently initiated second run, dials the reverb down significantly. It’s not totally dry, but it’s very clean and direct – if they were trying to evoke the past on the old songs, they’re now going for a more urgent and present feeling. Lopez’s voice is still the main attraction: He’s way up front in the mix, and still sings with the maximum level of conviction you can hit before ending up in Joe Cocker territory. The lyrics seem to be sung from the perspective of Jesus Christ, urging on the proselytizing of the apostle Bartholomew. It’s an interesting topic for a breezy, summery rocker, especially when you consider that his evangelizing eventually leads to his horrific murder.

Buy it from Bandcamp.