THE WRENS
Secaucus
[Grass-1996]
One of the most underrated and lesser known quality rock
acts of the ‘90s, The Wrens’ full-length debut is one hell of a ride. Let's put it this way: if
The Replacements’ main influences had been the angularity of Wire and Sonic
Youth crossed with the melodic gifts of The Raspberries, Secaucus is what they
may have sounded like.
When post-Secaucus the new owners of their label, Grass Records, offered the scrappy New Jersey quartet a new $1m deal to stay in the family, provided they actively commercialized their sound, our heroes decided to pass on the 7-figure payday, thus entering into a 7 year limbo from which they eventually emerged with the critically acclaimed The Meadowlands album [Absolutely Kosher] in 2003. (Btw, Grass became Wind-Up, home of Creed and Evanescence. So, that’s what they had in mind, huh?)
When post-Secaucus the new owners of their label, Grass Records, offered the scrappy New Jersey quartet a new $1m deal to stay in the family, provided they actively commercialized their sound, our heroes decided to pass on the 7-figure payday, thus entering into a 7 year limbo from which they eventually emerged with the critically acclaimed The Meadowlands album [Absolutely Kosher] in 2003. (Btw, Grass became Wind-Up, home of Creed and Evanescence. So, that’s what they had in mind, huh?)
Highlights: "Yellow Number Three", "Rest Your Head", "Dance the Midwest", "Hats off to Marriage", "Destruction/Drawn", "I Married Sonja".
