RICK HROMADKA - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Keys
STEVE BERNS - BG Vocals, Guitar
RON PAK - Bg Vocals, Drums
Influences
Beatles, Zombies, Brian Wilson, The Who, The Move, Syd Barrett, James Bond, Lee Hazelwood, The Turtles, The Kinks, The Hollies, Yardbirds, Cream, Hendrix, Peter Sellers, Sly Stone, Elton John, David Bowie, Roman Polansky, Harry Nielson, Pretty Things, Big Star, Badfinger, Queen, Sweet, T Rex, Evil Knievel, Pink Floyd, Burt Bacharach, The Byrds, The Carpenters, Yes, The Raspberries, Todd Rundgren, Led Zeppelin, Ramones, Jeff Beck, Sex Pistols, Paul Westerburg, Flaming Lips, Elvis
I was not keen on Maple Mars' "Circular Haze" which I thought got too trippy and tried a bit too hard. So I wasn't sure what to expect four years later with "Beautiful Mess" and I was pleasantly surprised. Guitarist Rick Hromadka (formally of the LA based Double Naught Spies) has done an excellent job here balancing the power pop and the psychedelic sound that he does so well. The opening song "Beautiful Mess" is equal parts Mick Ronson and Queen with a little Beatles thrown in. "Listen" is an awesome mix of the psychedelic and lush pop orchestration, sounds like it belongs on Badfinger's "Straight Up." A lighter touch on tracks like "Breathe Deep" make this release so enjoyable. The guitar work on "Fell Of The Cloud" rivals The Cloud Eleven for smoothness and laid back California style. This approach works beautifully to a cover of 10cc's "I'm not in Love" that will give you goosebumps for sure. The ballad "Between Two Worlds" shimmering guitar solo is similar to a lost ELO tune sung by Todd Rundgren and will demand repeat listens. There are other ballads here "Apology" and "Sweetest Dream" do an amazing job of establishing an atmosphere and the vocal overlays and chords in "Sweetest Dream" remind me of classic Cyrkle. With no misses and so many hits, this easily makes it a Top Ten contender of 2007. - Powerpopaholic
Beautiful
Mess out now!
"Beautiful Mess" is one of the top pop cds of 2007" - Jeremy (Jam Records)
ORDER YOUR CD NOW AND RECEIVE A SPECIAL BONUS DISC CONTAING 6 PREVIOUSLY
UNRELEASED TRACKS - "WELCOME TO MAPLE MARS" (demo), "GOLDEN
PEOPLE" (demo), "THE BEGINING" (acoustic), "FACE IN
THE CROWD" (demo), "SOFT CAROUSEL" (demo), AND A "MARS
REMAKE" OF THE THEME FROM "DARK SHADOWS"!
A dash of Pink Floyd, a sprinkle of ELO, some Jellyfish on the side, and a big dollop of the Beatles describe the Los Angeles band Maple Mars. Veteran singer-songwriter, guitarist Rick Hromadka (formally of LA pop icons Double Naught Spies) fronts this psychedelic rock outfit with drummer Ron Pak, guitarist Steve Berns, and bassist Jeremy Christensen. Their debut album entitled "Welcome To Maple Mars" (Permanent Press Recordings) had some critics naming the album one of the best indie pop-rock albums of 2001; and received rave reviews by such industry mags as Billboard, Album Network, Mojo, Hits Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, as well as many online publications. Songs from "Welcome To Maple Mars" have been featured on NBC's Thirdwatch and Fox's Felicity.
Their second album entitled "Circular Haze" was released in 2003 on New Jersey label Kool Kat Musik, and upped the ante in the review category, also making many critics' top-ten lists for that year.
"Beautiful Mess" - also on Kool Kat, and the third album from Maple Mars could be it's best yet, and made many lists as one of the best pop albums of 2007. The band has played on both coasts in the US, and in the United Kingdom
Landing in Los Angles from New Haven, Connecticut, Rick Hromadka first found a day job at Saban Entertainment and began penning songs for a variety of film and TV teen shows like Breaker High, Sweet Valley High, and the Power Rangers; also getting a track on the Power Rangers movie Turbo. Hromadka formed the power-trio group The Visionaries and released Every Other Saturday on Wrecking Ball Records. The band morphed into Double Naught Spies and was a fixture on the "LA Pop Scene" with their heavy 70's rock influence and melodic vocal arrangements. Their 1999 release The Shoephone Conspiracy (Cherry Boy Records) with engineer/co-producer Richard Bosworth (Dramarama, Wondermints, The Knack) brought the band major notoriety; being added to a number of college radio play lists, and was re-released in Japan on Air Mail Recordings (complete with bonus tracks and new liner notes). Songs from the CD have been used in several films and TV shows including Hanginaround (Winter Films) which also features music by The Who and Counting Crows; Piñata (Trimark Pictures) and King Cobra (HBO). Songs from The Shoephone Conspiracy - as well as the Maple Mars albums - have appeared on a variety of pop compilations from countries as diverse as Sweden, Germany, Japan, Australia, Canada, which have brought the band an international following.
Rick Hromadka currently works in Burbank, CA as a successful sound editor, and has won three Emmys for his work on the television shows ER and Thirdwatch.
I hope you are all enjoying the heatwave!!! (In the UK anyway!!) Visit my site, and get 20% off any poster if you mention your MySpace name!!! http://www.maximumrnb.com Have a FAB weekend, and Happy Independance Day to everyone in the US!!!!
FINALLY, NEW MUSIC! "The Art Of Broken Glass" (EP), click myspace.com/mrjmedeiros and take a listen! Available on itunes or directly from my site. New Mr.J songs to add to your profile! WORD!
You can also follow on twitter.com/mrjmedeiros for free music.
hi it is just a great song transcendental guidance and i just love it and it is really cool man and just a great film ass will and i hope i hear from u again and have a good week and great music ass will
Hi Rick! Thanks for sharing your wonderful video on my page. What an amazing combination of imagery and music.. and it sends a powerful message too. I love it! ~Laurie
