Stephen Lawrenson: Vocals, Guitar
Steve Pufki: Lead Guitar, Vocals
Ralph Pomeroy: Bass, Vocals
John Yannone: Keyboards
Dave Brassard: Drums, Vocals
Influences
My family & friends, ....and in no particular order: The Shazam, Cotton Mather, Velvet Crush, Matthew Sweet, The Posies, Redd Kross, XTC, Myracle Brah, Starbelly, Teenage Fanclub, Jason Falkner, The Grays, Jellyfish, The Beatifics, The Sneetches, The Merrymakers, The Wondermints, Doug Powell, Neil Finn, Split Enz, Crowded House, Finn Bros. Brad Jones, Splitsville, Greenberry Woods, E'nuff Z'nuff, Fountains Of Wayne, Raspberries, The Smithereens, Ice Cream Hands, Guided By Voices, Sun Sawed in 1/2, Wilco, Imperial Drag, The Jam, The Who, Small Faces, The Kinks, Big Star, Badfinger, Dakota, 10CC, Queen, Joe Jackson, Squeeze, The Beach Boys, The Zombies, The Hollies, Cheap Trick, T. Rex, Marshall Crenshaw, ELO.....and....The Beatles. Plus eleventeen thousand others....
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SOMEWHERE ELSE Shoestring
Yet another melodically accomplished pop maestro flying criminally under the radar, Pennsylvania singer/songwriter Stephen Lawrenson’s second album finds a guitar pop classicist just entering his prime. Lawrenson picks up on a million anglophile bits, from late-period Beatles to Crowded House to the latter-day Paisley Pop/Not Lame stable of stars, but his songs are far too smart and savvy to bow to mere imitation. Somewhere Else, successful on everything from lugubrious ballads to sharp, taut riff-happy rockers --a perfect exemplar of which is “Faith In You,” a killer—is a sly power pop gem.
-Charlie Sands
Pop Culture Press
The Pennsylvania Prince of Power Pop is bringing flower-power gold home again.
With his new release "Somewhere Else," the Susquehanna, Pa., maestro has plucked 11 fresh retro-roses from his contemporary rock garden. As on his last head-turning album, "Every Summer," Lawrenson again handles all instrumentation and voices that ubiquitously echo The Beatles, Jeff Lynne and Matthew Sweet.
This time out, though, he's tamed the herd of monster hooks that roamed through "Every Summer." Here, more nuance and rich production underscore '60s sensibilities blithely mixed in jaunty jangle-rock and classically-coifed electric lullabies.
An overall warmth carries through, even when Lawrenson is refuting conventional wisdom - like the "success-is-the-only-option" mantra with the disclaimer: "We learn more from our failures than we do from our success."
Of course, "Somewhere Else" extols the virtues of getting away, most directly on the rocking "Let's Go" when he throttles the chorus all the way back to the '60's sha-la-la sway of the Grass Roots' "Let's Live for Today."
Taut songwriting with a gentle air brings a perfect marriage of pop and substance on the closer, "Something I Can Hold On To."
The breezy "Hey!" gives nods to Lynne and the Traveling Wilburys as Lawrenson floats the idea of wanting it all.
And he balances the philosophical sobriety of the previously mentioned "Success" with classically-lilting sojourns in "Mother Nature's Daughter" and the opening instrumental "Theme From Somewhere Else."
Elsewhere, compassion comes with slinky, George Harrison/"Cheer Down"-style guitar on "Home to Me."
Bringing all of this home in Lawrenson's heartfelt rock nuggets are love, imagination and gifted musicianship.
And sure, there's no place like home, but "Somewhere Else" is an idyllic destination that'll draw you back again and again.
RATING: *** 1/2 (out of four)
-Dave Edick
Press & Sun Bulletin
Stephen's back with an absolutely terrific gem of a sophomore release that fines him further refining (and more fully fleshing out) his keen knack for creating Beatles-inspired (here we hear more George Harrison-isms than anything) tunes! After the gorgeous instrumental "Theme From Somewhere Else" starts the proceedings, the appropriately titled "Let's Go" (with it's Move "Do Ya" meets The Nips' "Gabrielle" power chord intro) kicks things right into high gear! The tracks "Home To Me", "Success", and "Anybody Else" (think the first cousin to "Isn't It A Pity") could easily "pass" as outtakes from George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass"! "Faith In You" and "Hey!" are both Smash Palace-like!
-Ray Gianchetti
Kool Kat Music
EVERY SUMMER REVIEWS:
By Dave Edick from the Press & Sun-Bulletin:
Power pop is alive and well,
thanks to musicians such as
Stephen Lawrenson.
Even though he’s no
stranger to critical acclaim,
“Every Summer” should multiply
it exponentially for the
one-man band from just south
of Binghamton’s border with
Pennsylvania.
Lawrenson casts enchanting
pop-rock spells that sparkle
with the
sunny
sounds of
The
Beatles,
Electric
Light
Orchestra
(without
the strings),
Cheap
Trick, Split
Enz and Jules Shear.
Armed primarily with the
Rickenbacker guitar that centers
the album cover,
Lawrenson serves up 10 songs
on the hook-laden, 38-minute
CD. Lyrically, each two- and
three-minute morsel is sweet
on love and life lessons.
Writing and performing every
note, he cut the disc at
Shoestring Studios in
Susquehanna, Pa., and produced
it at LSP Duplicators in
Vestal.
“4U,” “Town,” “Laughter
and Tears,” “Mind” and
“Harmonee” lead the way as
the standout tracks.
“4U,” an obvious single,
breezily conjures up the power
pop of Cheap Trick and
Shear. Lawrenson’s lyrics cleverly
engage by bemoaning the
inability to write a love song
for that special someone and,
in so doing, he accomplishes
precisely what he says he can’t
do:
“Because the words just can’t
do justice
To what I’ve always thought
of you.
’Cause I can’t write a love
song,
But if I could, it’d be for you.”
It’ll stick in your head long
after hearing it.
Two versions of “Town,”
electric and acoustic, inject
crying guitar that whispers
George Harrison in the dreamily
flowing mix. Lawrenson
broaches a repeated subject
here: “Is it wrong to lead a
simple life?” The song about
opportunity and introspection
also is the album title’s source:
“Every summer, I can hear the
sound of crickets in the dead
of night.”
The rocking sea shanty
“Laughter and Tears” navigates
waters charted by Split
Enz in their bouncy “Six
Months In a Leaky Boat.”
Lyrically, Lawrenson discusses
standing by your love,
smoothly evoking Enz vocalist
Tim Finn.
“Mind” tastefully energizes
the jingle-rock of Gary Lewis
and the Playboys, propelling
lyrics about the search for
peace of mind.
And “Harmonee” could
have been part of ELO’s “El
Dorado” album, including Jeff
Lynne-like vocals. In a bid for
harmony in life, Lawrenson
asks: “Can’t you see things are
always changing?”
“One More Try,” “That
Way” and “Stairway” also
flourish with Beatles and Split
Enz undercurrents, each eschewing
the power of positive
thinking.
Simply put, Lawrenson’s
layered musicianship and infectious
song craft keep
“Every Summer” engaging
from the first notes. Music this
tasty can’t leave Lawrenson
standing in the shadows for
long.
From David Bash at Bucketfull of Brains:
A very solid debut by this one man show from Pennsylvania, who combines early Beatle ballad-isms (think “If I Fell”) with the more lush, full-bodied territory mined by Richard X. Heyman and Mark Johnson. Each song on Every Summer is warm and engaging, with harmonies and cool chord changes that kinda sneak up on you. Exemplars of this approach are “4U,” “Laughter & Tears,” and “Mind,” while “Out There” is the most blatently Beatlesque with its direct nod to “Across The Universe”. The best song on the album is the dreamy, hypnotic, “Town,” which we fortunately get in both electric and acoustic versions. No doubt several Bucketfull of Brains readers would love this disc!
From Whit's Brain: This debut flows with confident melodies loaded with rich harmonies. Lawrenson's vocals are Love Nut-era Andy Bopp backed by early-model Beatles, or even what Andy Partridge may sound like singing something from Teenage Fanclub. The highlights here are "4U", which is a masterfully written piece of 1960's pop and "Harmonee", a pretty Rubber Soul-style ballad.
From Bruce Brodeen at Notlame: Excellent debut from Stephen Lawrenson and now out on the continually excellent Paisley Pop label. Lawrenson most definitely reminds us of Jeff Lynne and ELO in the vocal department(a bit of Lennon, as well) but it..s clear the music shares a bond with Sir Lynne as the Beatles-obsessions naturally become embedded in so much of the musical refrains, arrangements and instrumentation. Echoes, refrains, divinations are also taken from XTC, early solo McCartney and Badfinger, maybe some Raspberries dotting in and out. What makes it even better is this is 10 perfect tracks timed to such an affect they most certainly do not over stay their welcome but leave you wanting more without the frustration of not being able to get it. The rich harmonies(and their carefully layered arrangements) are a balm to all our pop senses with their uplifting refrains. The intent is pure here, that is clear--which makes this debut all the more charming and exciting. It reminds me of recent exciting debuts with the same qualities, Eugene Edwards and Frank Barajas. Extremely Highly Recommended.
From Matt Dornan at Comes With A Smile: Power-pop afficionados will find much to admire here in Stephen Lawrenson’s first release, particularly his multi-instrumental skills and layered harmonies. On this six-track introduction Lawrenson has taken the DIY approach as far as it’ll go; writing, performing and producing every note. The name-check for Brad Jones among the thank-yous gives an indication of where Lawrenson’s at, as does his love of The Beatles, Badfinger, Jeff Lynne etc which comes through loud and clear. Echoes of contemporaries Chris Von Sneidern and Cotton Mather are to be found on Harmonee and Stairway respectively, whilst closer That Way revisits the stripped-down soulful balladry of Big Star’s Thirteen. The stand-out, however, is Mind where the tell-tale Rickenbacker pictured on the cover gets a solid workout and the vocal arrangement is spot-on.
From Sean Merrell at Kaffeine Buzz:
(Reviewing the track, "Town" from the Paisley Pop compilation:
The Sensitive Guy’s Guide to Groovy Music) Probably the most unique track on the record was the psychedelic offering from Stephen Lawrenson entitled "Town." There’s plenty of White-Album-era force backed by an ominous wall of sound to kick that track over the top of the rest of the compilation.
try to be the first,
try to be the best,
try to be the one
for the future and for the past;
try to be best,
never be the last
and thank God if He will wants
give you another chance.
Tune in 9/26 on KOCI 101.5 FM from 1-3 p.m. and request your favorite PV songs on "Audio Vault" w/Brent Kahlen. It will also stream on www.kociradio.com.
Hi there, Stephen Lawrenson! We'd love to design a custom MySpace profile for you! We also offer full website design, flyer/poster design, and more. Check out our portfolio on our MySpace page.
You can also visit a few of our most recent MySpace Designs:
Hope you are keeping well. Thought you might want to hear a new version of 'Playground' which has been recorded by one of my MySpace friends Alex Life (you can find him in my top friends). He's done a great job of the song and put it in a completely new perspective. I love his version - I hope you do too.
Music is big and strong like the Sun: warms the coldest days,
illuminates the most beautiful days, it reaches all the places in the world....
and we can't do without!
:-)
Alexx B. & Elix England - Sistem.b
Hey hows it going. Hope is well. I was wondering if you would like to have a free album? You can get it at http://www.megaupload.com/?f=3NNQTYF1 I would love to know what you think
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