The Conversation Heart – Grenadine
Label: Self-Released
Style: Power Pop, Pop/Punk
Released: 2005
My Grade: 3 stars
AMG: n/a
Sounds like: Nurf Herder, Ranger Rocket, The Get-Up Kids, Jimmy Eat World


I have a hard time reviewing Power Pop, mostly because it has become a scap-goat term for pop/punk bands that don’t want to admit their lack of playing anything original.

I am sure you remember, back in the day, when pop/punk was something new and different, and only the weirdest of indie-punk kids listened to it; back before Nurf Herder, before Jimmy Eat World, before the pre-fabricated mold of MTV bands warped it into something extremely modern and in no way alternative. The thin line was breached and no one was safe.

So what do you do when a self-proclaimed power pop band sends you their debut album to review – especially when that album drips of sugar-coating and sickenly sweet indie charm? It is hard to say really, but I decided to give them a listen (besides, the album is pink, and that is pretty swell).

The album is safe, the band is safe, and like the album cover they are cute. They make music time tested and created specifically for mall raised indie kids; white suburbanites that grew up in nice little homes, with enough money and time to be comfortable but with enough emotion to want to be considered special, different and ‘indie’ – safe. The music is a slick creation of love I am sure, and it is even nice on the ears, but the feeling of them fitting just too much inside the bubble of cute cliché.

They are a fitting addition to the current music industry, edgy enough to be considered alternative, but pleasant enough to be played on mainstream radio (does anyone remember Marcy Playground?).


Reviewed by: Samuel Aaron

Official Website: theconversationheart.com