Search - Green Apple Quickstep :: Wonderful Virus

Very catchy grunge-power pop, unfairly ridiculed.

D. Mok | Los Angeles, CA | 01/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I remember two industry jokes about Green Apple Quick Step (named after a Byrds song, of all things): a) That it was "the last unsigned band in the Washington grunge scene; and b) That its song, "Bottle", was a ripoff of Nirvana's "Negative Creep".



I don't know if either observation was true, but I do know that when I first saw lead single "Dirty Water Ocean" on Muchmusic, I bought the album right away and it stuck to my CD player like glue. While far from a perfect album, Wonderful Virus is full of quirky charm, snappy songwriting, and instrumental hooks.



There's something to be said for a band that can make "Peel away/Hairless skin from the alien" into a chorus hook, and that's exactly what it does on "Ludes and Cherrybombs". While the sci-fi-hip lyrics are an acquired taste, the inherent musicality of the songwriting gets through. "Dirty Water Ocean" is a breathless rush of adrenalin, like the fastest, crunchiest ruckus raised by a band right next door; ripoff or no, the shuffling "Bottle", with its sludgy Alice in Chains-like groove, changing tempos and male-female vocal tag team, is an arresting rock tune; "Rapid" and personal favourite "Eating on All Fours" distinguish this band, the former with its languishing free-flowing melodicism, the latter for its muscular rock-anthem energy, blitz of chord changes, and bassist Mariann Braeden's wistful backing vocal.



Lead singer Ty Willman's vocal style owes more to progressive rock (sounding almost like Blue Oyster Cult's Eric Bloom!) than punk or grunge; the participation of Braeden in vocal chores enriches the sonic palette greatly; and the instrumentation crackles.



One of my favourite records of that fertile alternative-rock period."

They deserve more credit..

connor | League City Texas | 04/04/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is so amazing and such a breath of fresh air.. I also like "Reloaded" too.."