Beginning Stages Of...The Polyphonic Spree CD

However, it is the Spree's music that really leaves an impression. Catchy, sweeping, and overwhelmingly positive, DeLaughter and company blend their stylistic strengths--Beatle-esque pop-craft, gospel music, and '90s alt-rock--into a concoction difficult to define or equal. Clocking in at over an hour (the tracks are labeled only "Sections 1-10," giving the impression of an ongoing suite), THE BEGINNING STAGES OF...introduces--with waves of dancing keyboards, rolling percussion, and swelling choral parts--the uplifting aesthetic of rock's biggest, happiest musical family.

The Polyphonic Spree includes: Time DeLaughter (vocals, guitar); Jennifer Jobe (vocals); Todd Berridge (viola); Maria Jeffers (cello); Audrey Easley (flute, piccolo); Mark McKeever (trumpet, piano, keyboards, Moog synthesizer); Mark Pirro (bass).

From the ashes of 1990s alt-rock band Tripping Daisy, guitarist and singer Tim DeLaughter formed this one-of-a-kind ensemble. The Polyphonic Spree's appropriately titled debut, THE BEGINNING STAGES OF...THE POLYPHONIC SPREE, brings to mind, in its aura of innocence and optimism and its complex, orchestral arrangements, both PET SOUNDS-era Beach Boys and latter-day Flaming Lips. The sheer size of the band is formidable--the Spree has a fluctuating line-up that usually numbers in the high 20s, and features--in addition to regular rock instrumentation--horns, strings, a flautist, a theremin player, an electronics whiz, and a full choir.

Rolling Stone (8/8/02, p.82) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...An uncanny combination of rock orchestra and choir...evoking Up With People's all-American optimism but also bears the wounds of Spiritualized and Flaming Lips..."
Q (12/02, p.67) - Included in Q Magazine's "The 50 Best Albums of 2002."
Q (11/02, p.114) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...[The album has] the humanist warmth and simple joy that you hear in The Beach Boys or The Flaming Lips at their best..."
Uncut (1/03, p.97) - Ranked #61 in Uncut's "100 Best Albums of the Year"
Uncut (9/02, p.116) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...a bright, beatific prayer-meeting-cum-jam-session...Charming, involving, only marginally creepy..."
CMJ (6/02, p.15) - "...The group makes tuneful and tasteful use of an array of aural colors in 10 nameless psychedelic soundscapes....it happens to kick a little booty..."
Mojo (Publisher) (1/03, p.75) - Ranked #27 in Mojo's "Best Albums of 2002"
Mojo (Publisher) (10/02, p.110) - "...Their pop peaks sound like an ecstatic communion of Mercury Rev, ELO and the cast of HAIR..."
NME (Magazine) (9/21/02, p.37) - 9 out of 10 - "...A huge, humane record that could airlift the gloomiest soul from the Slough Of Despond. Never mind the cassocks, here's The Polyphonic Spree...the good news starts here."