MINOR ALPS - 90's Collaboration Release "Get There"

MINOR ALPS released their debut album Get There at the end of 2013 and the records 11 tracks are alternative, indie pop music at its best.  The two piece collaboration is made up of two 90’s stalwarts, Juliana Hatfield formerly of indie rock band Blake Babies and Matthew Caws, former singer/guitarist for indie rock band Nada Surf.  Their acoustic based, melodic style of pop rock has something for everyone and interestingly has both Hatfield and Caws singing together in harmony on almost every track.  The result is an elegant and graceful sound with carries you from each song to the next.  “If I Wanted Trouble” is a catchy indie track about someone who has always played it safe with a chorus of “If I wanted trouble, I could find it”.  Another gem is electric guitar driven “I Don’t Know What to Do With My Hands” which has a powerfully simple drum beat which drives the song through a person’s inability to make any decisions about their life.  The Broken Bells sounding “Wish You Were Upstairs” is a nice pop song about being lost in life and love.  The haunting “Radio Static” is an acoustic ballad which follows the albums biggest surprise, the track “Mixed Feelings” a heavy, punk rock driven song with hardcore style power chords, intense rock and roll drumming, and fast paced new wave vocals which shocks you awake.  The soft rock ballads “Lonely Low” and “Waiting for You” are great 90’s indie throwbacks with the same soft, harmonized vocals as the rest of the tracks and bring you back to the sound of the first half of the album.  It’s a shame that the collaboration is most likely a onetime deal which will not see the two touring as MINOR ALPS.  But maybe a future release is in the works, we’ll just have to wait and hope because the tracks on Get There are all nearly perfect.