The Apples in Stereo: Velocity Of Sound : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Even when they're trying to rebel, Robert Schneider and his Apples in Stereo can sound so Sixties: "It's their society, yeah/That makes me wanna scream" is a line that could have been lifted off a Turtles album. It's a toss-up between Schneider and drummer Hilarie Sidney as to who's got the higher voice, which gives the music a breathlessly fey pop-rock momentum - the Hollies in overdrive, the Mamas and the Papas done up with Ramones-style fuzz guitars. Velocity of Sound, the quartet's fourth full-length album, compresses eleven impeccable examples of retro-cool songcraft into twenty-eight minutes that don't give a damn what year it is. Schneider amps up the past, whether it's goosing the Beach Boys on "She's Telling Lies" or dropping acid with the Stones on "Where We Meet." But when he's had enough, on "Do You Understand?," his suddenly outraged geek voice couldn't be more immediate, or thrilling.

GREG KOT
(RS 908 - October 31, 2002)