Middle States

CMJ
Invitation To The Happy Fun Party
Dec 5, 2008
Story by: Joe Puglisi
The Middle States return with their Americana-esque power punk for Happy Fun Party, the newest record from the band since their Great Portland Street EP in 2004. The album, which will be self-released by the group, was co-produced and mixed by Tom Herbers, who has worked with Andrew Bird and Low.

Wes Mordern, professional busker and notable Minneapolis sideman formed The Middle States along with guitarist Ben Glaros in 2002. The EP helped secure the group a spot on the 2004 International Pop Overthrow compilation. The duo have made some line-up changes since GPS, but have kept busy working on things like the Double D Records tribute to Elliott Smith.

The party starts on January 27th, 2009.

http://prod1.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?id=97047811 - CMJ

Powerpopulist - december 12,2008
Kind of a corny theme, but if you like the songs, it shouldn't much matter.

Middle States - from Happy Fun Party
Thought Control mp3 - "Guided by Voices meets Buddy Holly," saidTeam Clermont, and we kind of like the sound of that. Bravo, Minneapolitans!
No Curse, No Drunk, No Fight mp3




http://powerpopulist.blogspot.com/2008/12/six-pair-middle-states-pointed-sticks.html - http://powerpopulist.blogspot.com/2008/12/six-pair-middle-states-pointed-sticks.html

Thursday, July 24, 2008
Middle States
Add Date: July 22

Artist: Middle States

Album: Happy Fun Party

Label: Effen

Genre: Power pop

Comments: Imagine Robert Pollard fronting a power pop outfit, and you'll have a good idea of how Middle States sound without even playing the record. But how could you pass up the chance to listen to something called Happy Fun Party? Check out "In Charge" and "Thought Control."
Posted by Jeremy at 9:09 AM

http://wlurradio.blogspot.com/2008/07/middle-states.html - http://wlurradio.blogspot.com/2008/07/middle-states.html

What a great surprise - this is what makes Not Lame so cool. A band that comes from out of the blue and grabs ya by the neck and says `Pay Attention!". Sure, Middle States is not going to win awards for originality - that is never the point with our faves on this site - but their insistent energy, passion and ability to string together an full album of ripping pop tunes with cool stop-starts and catchy twists makes "Happy Fun Party" a keeper! Listen to the first two songs below, at the least - first one, a does of early Costello, the second one 20/20. Our kind of stuff, right? You bet ya!

"The opening track "In Charge" firmly puts them in that position, a driving Replacements-meet-Big-Star rocker that has that Minneapolis rock sound. Tommy Stinson (if not Westerberg himself) would be proud of "No Curse No Drunk No Fight" with its insistent beat, take-no-prisoners attitude, and mini-guitar freakout at the end. "Straight to the All or None" channels 80s David Bowie, while "Thought Control" brings to mind Robert Pollard. Meanwhile, tracks named "Winds of Eidertown" and "Warlords of Ari" might have you thinking you`ve stumbled upon a Dungeons and Dragons concept album, but both are pleasant midtempo rockers. And it`s probably not a shock that the track titled "Tumbleweeds" is the most Americana-ish of the tracks. But the real highlight of the disc is "Friday Night", which does a perfect job of evoking a night out on the town listening to bar bands set to a great power pop melody. If you like your power pop and rock served Midwest-style, you`ll definitely want to crash Middle States` Happy Fun Party." - AbsolutePowerPopBlog. "Imagine Robert Pollard fronting a power pop outfit, and you`ll have a good idea of how Middle States sound without even playing the record."-WLUR.

From the opening drum stick count off of "In Charge" to the final cello note of "Bring Down the Day" the Middle States keep moving from one mood to the next. Laced with nods to 60`s Jangle and powerpop (No Curse, No drunk, No Fight and Winds of Eiderdown)to the soft-loud dynamic of more recent times (Thought Control). The poppy "Friday Night" bursts the bubble of hometown heroes, while "Tumbleweeds", with it`s Americana flavor, looks at what it means to be metaphorically and psychologically lost. "Bring Down the Day" is for when it;s past the time to give up on something. Served together, Happy Fun Party is like a well prepared rock and roll buffet. VERY Highly Recommended!

power pop, independent music Song #1 - mp3
http://www.notlame.com/MID_SEPTEMBER_New_Releases/MIDDLE_STATES/Page_2/CDMIDDLESTATES1.html - http://www.notlame.com/MID_SEPTEMBER_New_Releases/MIDDLE_STATES/Page_2/CDMIDDLESTATES1.html

Indie band you need to know: Middle States
Posted by Chris on December 16th, 2:45 pm

When it comes to famous musicians from Minneapolis, Prince and The Replacements always most immediately come to mind.

Minneapolis based Middle States has very little to do with Prince, but you can definitely hear the influences of The Replacements. There’s also the feeling of 50’s Americana Rock like Buddy Holly when you hear Middle States.

The band was founded by Wes Morden, who started out as a street-musician in Minneapolis playing 50’s rock, which explains the whole Americana sound pretty well.

Middle States is releasing it’s first full-length album Happy Fun Party January 27th. You can get a good preview of Happy Fun Party from the tracks “No Curse No Drunk No Fight,” “Friday” and “Warlocks of Ari” on the band’s MySpace. These songs show the undeniably catchy power-pop hooks that Middle States does so well. In addition, “No Curse No Drunk No Fight” shows how the band can draw from Americana and update this sound to make it belong to them.
- http://tuneslevel.com/ Dec. 16

The self-hype behind this band proclaims that Replacements lovers will dig this, which sort of makes sense considering it hails from the Twin Cities, just like the 'Mats. They also try and make comparisons to Robert Pollard, to whom the band's creative force Wes Morden (singer/songwriter/guitarist) bears resemblance. But good old Bob's solo stuff and the Guided by Voices canon includes a singular sound, a catchy canon – at least at first, until about the 700th record to which one listens as Pollard opts for quantity over quality. That might not be the comparison a band wants to draw. And the 'Mats, bless their hearts, could barely get it together for more than a couple songs at a time. This band is more focused than either of those groups. It's a perfect 1980s indie-rock guitar-pop sound. No synths. Fuzztones. Fleshtones. Chesterfield Kings. Children of Nuggets. Plimsouls. Those bands acted as if the 1970s never happened. They adored the Beatles and obscure 1960s bands that had few hits, if any, like Shadows of Knight, Herman's Hermits, the Seeds, Status Quo.
As such, the Middle States stick out like a sore thumb in today's scene: too polished and mellow to fit in with the rough-cut Black Keys crowd, too unpolished to hold court with smoother underground favorites like Wilco and the New Pornographers (although at times the Middle States' harmonies sound just as sterling as the Pornos in places). The band carries more than a little resemblance to ancient Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – the version predating the Traveling Wilburys, before Petty let Jeff Lynne pollute the sound with his trademark pounding acoustic rhythm guitars. Not only does the Middle States' rhythm section bash away precisely a la "Breakdown," but Morden puts a few little Petty affectations in his singing, too.

In other words, they're awesome! A diamond in the rough that no one will ever hear about – except you.

Most of the songs are upbeat and catchy, but a few standouts include "Thought Control," a cruelly sarcastic skewering of Republican Rule of the 'naughts – keeping in mind this was written and recorded long before President Obama was a lock, in a crazy right-wing area of the country still trying to determine if and how Al Franken's joke candidacy turned into an actual gubernatorial winner. "Friday Night" is a powerful earworm on the Big Star scale, walking us pub patrons through the band's preconcert routine, showing how the pros outweigh the cons, mostly. "Synthesize" rips off the Doors' "L.A. Woman" intro to great effect, melding the familiar line with the "Gimme Some Lovin'" beat. These guys are pros.

And then there's "Tumbleweeds." You will look at your iPod display in disbelief, not quite sure how a Tom Petty song (circa Southern Accents) got mislabeled as the Middle States. But it's not a ripoff or a paean; it's a gorgeous, countrified rocker (complete with droning Hammond organ in the background, a trademark Heartbreakers touch) featuring Morden putting on a spot-on Alabama drawl. Musta been in a cover band that did Skynyrd at one point. If you're into hooky harmonies, Nuggets-y pop, and synth-free music devoid of studio trickeration – in other words, grown-up rock – the Middle States is an excellent pick. - Bullz-eye

The Minneapolis band Middle States debuted in 2004 with the Great Portland Street EP, and it made a nice impression at the time; one of the tracks ended up on an IPO comp, and I personally enjoyed their mix of Americana, classic rock and power pop but kind of forgot about them in the intervening years. So it was a pleasant surprise to see them four years later finally releasing their debut full-length, Happy Fun Party.

The opening track "In Charge" firmly puts them in that position, a driving Replacements-meet-Big-Star rocker that has that Minneapolis rock sound. Tommy Stinson (if not Westerberg himself) would be proud of "No Curse No Drunk No Fight" with its insistent beat, take-no-prisoners attitude, and mini-guitar freakout at the end. "Straight to the All or None" channels 80s David Bowie, while "Thought Control" brings to mind Robert Pollard. Meanwhile, tracks named "Winds of Eidertown" and "Warlords of Ari" might have you thinking you've stumbled upon a Dungeons and Dragons concept album, but both are pleasant midtempo rockers. And it's probably not a shock that the track titled "Tumbleweeds" is the most Americana-ish of the tracks. But the real highlight of the disc is "Friday Night", which does a perfect job of evoking a night out on the town listening to bar bands set to a great power pop melody. If you like your power pop and rock served Midwest-style, you'll definitely want to crash Middle States' Happy Fun Party. - www.absolutepowerpop.com

By: Matthew R. Perrine , Budgeteer News

Middle States: With skills like this…


It’s been said that the Guided by Voices fanbase is divided into two distinct camps: lo-fi purists and those who embrace that legendary Ohio band’s forays into high fidelity with open arms.

My sensibilities fall into the latter, so I take great pleasure in announcing that Middle States’ “Happy Fun Party” is music for my people.

Just to be clear: No, this Minneapolis band isn’t one of the 12,000 Robert Pollard side projects, but, given frontman Wes Morden’s pitch-perfect approximation of his voice, it’s easy to mistake it for one.

And then there’s the rest of the Middle States, who all seem to have taken a GBV pill before hitting the studio with Tom Herbers (an occasional Low collaborator) as well.

They’re probably sick to death hearing about how close the two bands sound, but I mean it as a compliment of the highest order. When GBV was briefly signed to TVT Records in the late ’90s/early ’00s, the two albums produced during that unusual arrangement yielded some of the most irresistible compositions of the rock era — and the bulk of the “Happy Fun Party” material is just as awe-inspiring.

The album’s leadoff track, “In Charge,” and “Straight to the All or None” — which sounds like it borrows the Leslie speaker trick Kim Thayil used on Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” — are excellent examples. They’re both strong contenders for best single of 2009, but that’s not just because of the GBV parallels: Like Rich Mattson and Tony Derrick in our beloved Tisdales, Morden draws inspiration from all those classic records you’ve heard incessantly since you first started falling in love with music.

As such, the Middle States formula is all at once refreshing and timeless-sounding. This is undeniable music.


Middle States will play a CD release show for “Happy Fun Party” Feb. 6 at Stasiu’s Place in Minneapolis. Visit www.myspace.com/middlestates for more information. - Duluth Tribune 1/27/09

iddle States
Happy Fun Party
By Ian Gormely

Big Star's three LPs have been a musical touchstone ever since R.E.M. dropped Chronic Town on the world. Three decades later and the bands influenced by the Memphis trio could occupy their own sub-genre. Middle States, a vehicle for Wes Morden's sharp songwriting, offer a worthy addition the club with Happy Fun Party, a record that teams Big Star's sun-kissed harmonies with the booze soaked characters that inhabit Paul Westerberg's best songs. Out of the gates, Morden lays out his modus operandi, proclaiming "I'm in charge" over a riff copped from a Posies record, but then seemingly contradicts himself on "No Curse, No Drunk, No Fight," offering a compromise to win back an estranged lover. Middle States borrow and steal from a litany of sources (see the "Happy Jack" aping verses in "No Curse, No Drunk, No Fight") but Morden's influences never overshadow the hooks. Happy Fun Party doesn't break any moulds but that's not to say Middle States' next record won't. (Effen) - Exclaim.CA

Anybody out there remember the early 90's when bands like Material Issue ruled the world? When Urge Overkill was singing about Sister Havana (my ex-lived across the street from where they filmed the video). I do...and apparently Middle States do as well.

Here's this band in the tail end of the first decade of the 21st century and they sound so much like every band from 1992 I had to make sure I wasn't still doing my radio show at UM. Think of Middle States as a comfort food if you happen to remember the golden age of Indie.

Anyway, songwriter, singer and guitarist Wes Morden enjoyed mild acclaim as a sideman with a variety of Minneapolis acts (that sort of explains the bands sound), as well as peculiar notoriety as a busker of ‘50s Rock and Roll music. The desire to front his own band led him to enlist guitarist Ben Glaros (an accomplished solo performer in his own right) to form the Middle States. Without backing or promotion, the Middle States released their EP Great Portland Street in 2004. Wes and Ben re-grouped, made several line-up changes, and slowly assembled what would become Happy Fun Party. Yes, the title is ironic and only took them five years to put together. But what's five years when you've been beamed in from the early 90's? - pop stereo 1/27/09