All Night Radio: Spirit Stereo Fequency : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

On All Night Radio's debut album, principals Dave Scher and Jimi Hey -- formerly of Los Angeles country rockers Beachwood Sparks -- deliver a venturesome batch of tunes. Culling an assortment classic rock's elements, Spirit Stereo Frequency lends itself to headphone listening, as "Daylight Till Dawn" joyously assures. Balancing the vintage layered pop of the Partridge Family with bits of soul and acid rock, it's just one in a number of spaced out fusions that are like little else on the dial. And beneath sound collages like "Fall Down 7" (which merges Sgt. Pepper orchestration with a War-like groove) or the musical mushroom trip known as "We're on Our Own Wave," All Night Radio write phenomenal songs. By limiting themselves to nine real tracks and a brief interlude, Scher and Hey keep things consistent while they feed your head -- from the winning, lush lament "Sad K" all the way through to their accomplished, eight-minute parting theme.