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Ready for a crash course in Pop?
Michael Slawter is ready to give it to you. This Winston-Salem,
N.C.-based songwriter writes shimmering and brainy tunes in the
finest tradition of American power-pop, earning him comparisons
to The Plimsouls and The Records.
A veteran of the North Carolina
music scene, Slawter last fronted the short-lived pop/punk quartet
Neidermeyer. The band's sole recorded offering, "For Those
About to Pop" won them 2001 pop-rock album of the year honors
from The Winston-Salem Journal. The newspaper praised Slawter
for creating tunes as "smart and entertaining as (the band's)
name." Slawter soon decided he wanted a band that reflected
his own vision. In 2002, Michael formed the Saving Graces
"I was really happy with
the songs I was writing in Neidermeyer but I felt like I had
so much other stuff inside me that didn't really fit that band."
Slawter recalled.
In the fall of that year the
Slawter headed into the studio with respected Australian musician
d.Henry Fenton and longtime Winston-Salem scenester Britt "Snuzz"
Uzell. The end product, "These Stars Are For You,"
was released by respected Portland, Oregon indie The Paisley
Pop Label to almost unanimous critical acclaim. Over five songs,
"These Stars Are For You" effortlessly blended 60s-vintage
Britpop ("The Things that Make You Strange"), bouncy
New Wave-style rock ("Idiot Proof") and gorgeous balladry
("Sad Golden Waves Goodbye.").
On their first full-length LP,
Slawter upped the ante to produce "The Assassination of
Someone You Knew." Joined by veteran producer Jamie Hoover
(Spongetones, Van Deleckis), the 11-song collection presents
a fuller picture of Slawter's songwriting capabilities, veering
from the energetic, Buzzcocks-inflected "Giving Up The Ghost,"
to the lovely sturm und jangle of "Southern Gothic Sound,"
to the deeply personal meditation that is "Why Don't You
Cry."
Now a solo artist free to record
and perform with a varying cast of top-flight musicians, Slawter
is putting thie finihing touches on his debut solo Album to be
released in he summer of 2006. On board again is Jamie Hoover
who is mixing and tracking the record at his Charlotte studio,
Hooverama.
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Stratocruiser
has become an acclaimed band that stradles garage, power pop,
70's arena rock and psychedelia with equal aplomb. The single
"Smell of Success" is a track that truly encapsulates
the bands' sound in 3:20. "Guitar-driven, jangly verses
that could have been part of the Byrds/Electric Prunes/Spirit/Standells
garage-rock revolution. Only it isn't marred by muddy production
or excess vocal distortion" - Berkely Place