Reviews

Reviews

What the critics are saying about Ten Story Love:

Hippo Press and NHTunes.com selected our website as “Website Of The Week”. Here’s what they had to say about this lil’ ol’ home on the web:
“Got some serious time on your hands? Local band Ten Story Love has a new website that features so many great things that it’s guaranteed to occupy your free time (and then some!) The site features some really great bio’s, photos, a collection of reviews of their debut CD, and what is probably the largest list of music links I’ve ever seen, most with a brief explanation of the linked site- very impressive! You can also buy Ten Story Love CD’s, tee shirts, or a coffee mug if you so desire. They even have an MP3 of a recent radio interview available for download if a file size of 9 Mb’s doesn’t scare your modem too much. Perhaps best of all, if you visit their site you can finally discover where their unusual name came from.”

— NHTunes.com
Reviews of our first CD:
“…this self-titled, self-released debut album sounds to me like the tiny few, those couple of bands that moved from heavy rock into indie pop with success. First I give my absolute admiration to any band that can produce such a professional album and get it out there for the fans, without the help of even a minor label. Also both Brad Page and Scot Gibbs are accomplished guitarists, songwriters and vocalists. Clean, hard riffs accompany songs about love and life. It is a formula that fits them like an old pair of sneakers. Human Torch… is a great little tune, where they manage to pull their metaphor ‘been burned by love so many times I feels like a human torch’ around tight percussion, interesting harmony and blistering guitar work. A real stand out track. They even manage to pull a guitar solo past me without criticism, that is praise indeed. Overall, a solid entertaining debut from a band with a lot of promise.”

— Indie Monkey web ‘zine
Read the full review here
“The band packs a punch with extremely solid, radio-friendly songs which propel it to the top ranks of bands doing the indie guitar rock thing. The songs here are immediately engaging; the kind you’ll find yourself cranking up and happily joining into their infectious feel. “

— Bryan Baker, Gajoob
Read it here
“Donning the name of a 50’s pulp comic book, Ten Story Love is enterprising in its modern presentation of 80’s pop revivalism without sounding too derivative. In a music world of countless bar bands competing to be the next R.E.M., Ten Story Love successfully embodies the sound of the era which spawned that aforementioned groundbreaking group while maintaining an approach to alternative music that is all their own. Ten Story Love ultimately proves that they have definitely established a place on this planet and, in the end, they shall be rewarded for their efforts. 4.5 out of 5 Stars!”

— Lee Tarver, Music Media Interactive, CAZ Media
Read the full review here
“Ten Story Love is the most pure fun I have had listening to an independent disc in a while…. The Perfect Girl starts off with some big, clean, fun chords. The easy changes and smooth backing vocals give an early ’80s pop sound– what if Elvis Costello sang for The Cars? The most subtle song is Human Torch. Small differences in the vocal production give “Human Torch” appeal. It never gets old because it keeps changing without losing touch with it’s initial hook… In the last quarter of the album, “Ten Story Love” shows off it’s rock chops. Guitars are still the main features of these songs, but they are more crunchy and more stylized here… After all this, the best radio single on the disc has to be Breakdown Lane. Anyone who doesn’t know all the words to Breakdown Lane by the end of the first listen please raise your hand. If the feeling persists, listen to the song again or buy the CD.”

— Joel Hedge, Indie-Music.com
Read the full review here
“When you’ve got it, you’ve got it…and Ten Story Love has all that and more. Punchy, poppy, upbeat tunes, expertly delivered and recorded, make for an absolutely delightful listen. [This band] has the ability to write and arrange clever and catchy tunes, then execute them with energy and nearly flawless musicianship. There are positively tons of audio hors d’oeuvres on this disc, but if I had to pick one (Oh honey, it’s like being on a diet at a buffet), it would have to be The Perfect Girl. Oh hell, give me the whole tray!”

— Billy Dare, Musician’s Trade Journal
“If you’re looking for an album of straight-forward and humble yet shiny songs, check out Ten Story Love’s self titled release. Listen a bit more carefully and you may notice traces of early 70s arena rock, late 80s power-pop as well as a touch of country. They may be the epitome of a do-it-yourself band, but Ten Story Love gives the tag a good name. The digital sound and production quality is top quality… former industrial drummer Jason Waugaman’s playing alone makes the album worth checking out.”

— Darren Paltrowitz, TransAction Magazine
Read the review here
“…Go Fish is a rocking tune utilizing the combined talents of both Page and Haught. You can’t help but dance to this one! Another great tune is Company Store. It’s not a Tennessee Ernie Ford cover, but an updated protest song of the 90’s mega-merging corporate landscape. This is the best song on the album, and really showcases the bands talent and potential. “

— Sean Madden, Rooted Magazine
Read the whole review here
“The self titled album from stateside band Ten Story Love is an esoteric mix… not as clichéd as many of the new bands coming out these days. These guys know they’re good and have created this whole album, from scratch, themselves. Including the pressing and distribution. I am personally pretty surprised a major label hasn’t snapped these guys up already, I know I would! Ten Story Love now have pride of place in the ISR Music office CD autochanger!”

— ISR UK (online reviews from Great Britian)
Read the review here
“There’s nothing I love more than solid pop songs. OK, there is, and that is solid pop songs about life and all the frustrations that surround it. And guess what? Boston’s four-piece act Ten Story Love plays exactly that. Tight and efficient, these guys pack a punch… Who can’t relate to the line ‘She’s the perfect girl, and she’s not mine’? Ten Story Love’s The Perfect Girl, the opening track to their self-titled debut, is a bouncy, fun number that reflects all the emotions that go through your head every time you meet ‘the perfect girl’ that you’ll never have. The thing is, the band just doesn’t stop there. They keep the hits coming, back to back, without any down time in between… The band just seems so at ease writing tight pop songs about life as they, and we all, know it… Never stale, and always fun, this band keeps things lively from track one to track thirteen.”

— Alex Steininger, In Music We Trust
Read the full review on their website
“From the instant of pressing play and hearing the opening chords of The Perfect Girl, you know that this four piece is a tight unit… Ten Story Love fills their self-titled CD with plenty of well-crafted pop/rock… The lyrics are often clever and the melodies hummable. If you see their name in a band lineup at your local club, turn off the t.v. and GO CHECK ‘EM OUT.”

— Jeff Anderson, Indie Journal
Read the full review here
“[Ten Story Love] alludes to some time and place either past or yet to come where accessible, simple, catchy, sometimes folksy pop didn’t (or won’t) have to be vapid, slick and cliché — 1966, maybe, when the Byrds and the Who were doing it. The lyrics do a good job of sustaining metaphors through the course of a four-minute song without getting repetitious, like The Perfect Girl — a love(sick) song that brings a new, literal bent to the term ‘art rock’ (they reference Picasso and Monet like Puff Daddy name-drops designer labels). The production is clean, the rhythm and lead guitars mesh together well and there are enough curveballs thrown in to keep it nicely varied.”

— Nate Patrin, Demorama
Read the review here
“It’s rock ‘n’ roll the good ol’ fashioned way, as Ten Story Love employs the seemingly timeless electric guitar as its primary weapon and uses classic rock as a stalwart reference point. With an emphasis on lyrical astuteness, tunes like Human Torch and Stuck focus on the complex emotions that mold our everyday lives. Thoughtful and personal yet not overly draining, the majority of tunes here provide for a carefree, affable listening experience.”

— Andrew Magilow, Splendid e-zine
Read the review here
“Every now and again a band comes along that force you to listen to their CD, and suddenly, you’re in love. You can’t seem to put your finger on it, but the CD simply makes you feel good… The band delivers an intense lyrical journey while maintaining a light-hearted, upbeat mood throughout… Filled with wonderful analogies and superb metaphors, Ten Story Love puts the ‘art’ back in ‘smart’.”

— Oscar Aparicio, Altar Native issue #10, May 1999
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“On their total DIY debut, these four boys from New England remind us why we like rock and roll in the first place: it’s fun! The band has done their homework, expertly moving from one style to another… Ten Story Love show they have a wide and very excellent taste in music… The fact that this CD exists is proof enough that there are still people who care about rock and roll, and bands like Ten Story Love deserve our support.”

— Michael Van Gorden, Consumable Online
The full review is here
“Make no mistake. This is one of the tightest sounding bands I’ve heard in a while. They do what they do in music better than anyone. For this reason, my crystal balls are telling me that they’re going to be on the top 40 before I die… PLEASE listen to them.”

— Ben Ohmart, The Music Dish
Read the full review here
“Good DIY stuff from a band that’s off to a great start. Ten Story Love’s fuzz guitar-based pop tunes are simple and catchy… Whoever had his hands on the knobs for this one knew what he was doing– the sound quality KICKS.”

–Babysue Magazine, April 1999
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“…this is pretty damned good. If I had a label, I’d sign them. And you know I don’t say that a lot. These guys are very good at what they do. I think I’m gonna listen to the disc all over again…”

–Jon Worley, Aiding & Abetting #178
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“The band seems to know well how to write tunes you can easily remember for a long time. Simple yet authentic, loud yet melodic, Ten Story Love’s debut album is the perfect representative of the new American music scene… Anyway you see it, Ten Story Love’s debut is a promising beginning.”

— Yannis Florakis, Babylon
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“The hard hooks of The Perfect Girl and It Happens Every Time are irresistible… there’s some tasteful funk that appears on the breaks on Stuck, and the band wears it on their sleeves on the beautiful Marian On The Steps. There’s a lot of passion and talent on Ten Story Love and it’s a treat to experience. Really, there’s nowhere for this band to go but up. I have a feeling they’ll live up to their name.”

— Claudio Sossi, Shake It Up
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LATEST NEWS:
On Sept 4th, the best musicians in the Boston area united to raise awareness of independent music: the music you don’t hear on mainstream TV or radio. Ten Story Love took part in the Boston “Tourbaby” show at Sky Bar in Somerville MA. See pictures from the show in our Photo Gallery.