Eric Sorensen Review: September, 2001

The Rumors
Mind The Gap

(Self-released)

www.therumors.net

Mind The Gap - like the first full-length disc, Pacific, from the Indiana-based quartet The Rumors - is a superb testament to why fufkin.com readers and pop music fans are tuned in to the indie music scene. This twelve-song album represents American heartland guitar pop at its finest (from the same school as midwestern predecessors Fire Town and the Blow Pops). The band’s refreshing pop, rock and alt-country originality is strengthened with some notable REM, Three Walls Down, Colony, Toad The Wet Sprocket and Mavericks influences.

There is a seamless melodic flow to the tracks on Mind The Gap - beginning with “London Town,” which cleverly incorporates the album title into the song’s theme. The Rumors showcase their vocal harmonies on the Beatlesque acoustic song “No One Answers” and the jangly “San Diego.” Guest artist Steve Cooley (formerly of the Dillards) plays banjo on “The Hardest Days” - a song that blends REM-ish chorus harmonies, 70s-styled country/rock and the more contemporary country/rock of Blue Rodeo. “Far Away” is a very nice strummy mid-tempo tune, followed by the Canyon-rocking song “Full Moon.” “Ms. Furman’s Song” is a piano-driven ballad that lends further to the comparison between lead vocalist Rob Marlin and REM’s Michael Stipe. “Crazy” has a Lynyrd Skynard Southern-fried rock flavor; “Brace Yourself” features Steve Cooley again - this time on mandolin; and “When You Wake” closes things in much the same manner as “It Ain’t Cheatin’” closed the Gin Blossoms’ highly acclaimed New Miserable Experience album.

The melodies, harmonies, hooks, chiming, jangly and ringing riffs are in all the right places throughout Mind The Gap. Once you have fallen under this album’s spell, I encourage you to find room on your shelf for Pacific. Together, these two albums will cause you to tap your toes, hum, smile and sing along - for years to come. The Rumors clearly have their fingers on the pulse of what indie pop music is all about …and they deserve a broader audience!

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