Originally published in The Aquarian Weekly

May 28, 2008

Since the 1980s

Hoboken has been well

known as the home for

alternative bands like

The Feelies, The

Bongos, The

Cucumbers, and Yo La

Tengo. What the Mile

Square City isn’t known

for is straight-up rock

and roll bands. The

Fave is about to change

all that.

I always appreciate

it when a young band

is aware of the roots of

the music they play.

Really good bands like

The Fave can

assimilate these

influences without

sounding retro or

imitative. When I first

heard the band, my

immediate reaction was

that they had listened

to a lot of Jefferson

Airplane. That was

based not only on the

songs, but the dual

female/male vocals that

the Airplane deployed

so successfully. But

listen closely and you’ll

also hear strains of The

Who, U2, Traffic, and

other notables.

Led by the brother

and sister team of

guitarist Dom

“Kingdom” Della Fave,

and vocalist Jaime

Rose, the band shines

on the Bangles-inspired

opener “Ewake,” the

rave-up “Let It Out,” and

the inventive, harmony-laden

psych-pop of

“Thrown Away.” Don’t

miss the hidden 13th

track, which may be

titled “Coming Down.”

It’s worth hanging on

for.

I don’t know which

came first, the album

title, or the release date,

but since The Fave will

be holding their CD

release party at

Maxwell’s on May 31,

the title is perfectly

appropriate. You can

buy their CD at the

party, or on iTunes,

eMusic, Amazon, and

most of the other online

resources.

In A Word: Sizzling

Grade: A-

–by Ken Shane