PEDALJETS

Lawrence, Kansas' answer to Husker Dü in the Eighties, with a dash of the Wipers' riffy darkness thrown in for seasoning, the Pedaljets accomplished the impossible last year: They issued a comeback album, What's in Between, possibly stronger and more vital than what they'd released in their time. Tight, powerful tunes like "Conversations" are melodically and rhythmically inventive enough to suggest George Martin had produced.

Tim Stegall - AUSTIN CHRONICLE

What's In Between
(Electric Moth Records)


It took this legendary Kansas quartet 23 years to complete this recording but the wait's been well worth it.

It's a success made largely possible by the reinvigorating presence of new guitarist and producer, former Shiner Paul Malinowski.

Lazy critics pigeonhole the jets as the "missing link" between punk and grunge but this is in fact, pedal-to-the-floor, hot-blooded rock intelligently spiced with occasional country sentiment, as in the catchy, waltzing Tangled Up.

It's all delivered by a bunch who add the flavour of maturity to the still-present exuberance of old.

Ensemble work is supreme and the resulting compact melodiousness and the four-part harmonies are among the best in the business.

Terra Nova, Riverview and Clowns And Jackals are magnetic with their raw yet measured energy.

Be sure to catch them when they cross the pond, if your heart still beats rock and roll.

Michal Boncza - Morning Star UK

Do you remember life in 1989? Berlin was still walled, the Soviet Union was just about holding in there, a large proportion of the world had declared themselves not exactly fans of Salman Rushdie’s work, and Tim Berners-Lee tried plugging a few computers together and inadvertently created the World Wide Web. It was also the year that US punk band the Pedaljets produced their last album. It seems rather amazing that their latest effort, ‘What’s In Between’ released over 20 years on, actually sounds exciting and fresh.

Continuing from where they left on, the Pedaljets are back with their uncomplicated brand of grungy punk and alternative rock. Biting riffs are the order of the day and for the most part the band deliver them with a healthy swagger. The likes of ‘Terra Nova’ and ‘Dead Day Returns’ pack quite the punch and at their best carry the listener along upon what is at times a thrilling ride. The music is rarely complex – invention does not appear to be something the Pedaljets are particularly interested in – meaning the journey through the record is more solid than inspiring. In fact when the Pedaljets do try something a little complicated it leads to weakest point on the album. ‘Change’ is a melodic and harmony-heavy attempt at a sing-along which falls a little flat on its face.

At its height, ‘What’s In Between’ is a pulse-raising thriller of a record. It is only when the Pedaljets try moving beyond this model that the band’s limits become apparent.
- Americana UK

This is my first experience of the Pedaljets and I am suitably impressed. It’s like Iggy Pop singing for The House of Love – melodic punk with angry overtones.

The whole thing kicks off with one of the strongest songs on the whole album, ‘Terra Nova’. After a musical introduction the vocals of Mike Allmayer kick in which instantly remind me of Iggy Pop or early Nick Cave. It takes the song to a different level which certainly adds the edge to easy on the ear music.

The album continues with more garage-grunge type riffs but still obtaining the level of punk thanks to the powerful vocals. The fourth track in ‘Change’ opens with haunting organ before the kaleidoscopic type guitars break in and the whole thing resembles The House of Love at their finest with thousand’s of students joining in to ‘Shine On’.

Considering that the Pedaljets originate from Kansas USA, it’s amazing how much they remind me of that eighties music scene which originated in Manchester UK. That might mean nothing to readers in America but there’s an uncanny resemblance which keeps coming back to me track after track.

Things are slowed down considerably with my favourite song on the album, ‘Goodbye to All of That’. A brilliant number which just grows on you and has you screaming the title in unison each time it comes around. This is followed immediately with one of the strongest ‘punk’ tracks ‘Nothing Boy’. A much faster and heavier song than anything that preceded it and the two tracks combined show the depth of the Pedaljets and the diversity on offer throughout the album.

t’s very difficult trying to pigeon hole ‘What’s in Between’ which is no bad thing. It’s poppy at times but then the next track stands up and slaps you in the face. There are powerful riffs and deep bass and drums followed by a much slower, melodic and moving song. If it’s 23 years since their last recording then it’s definitely been worth waiting for and it’s also been well overdue.


- Punk Online UK

It feels like a purely objective statement to say the Pedaljets' two-fisted new album, What's in Between, is the band's best.

It has all the studio sophistication that the band might have wished for on its promising 1987 debut, Today Today, and it recovers the pop sensibility left behind on its self-titled 1990 follow-up, after which the group disbanded. The Pedaljets reunited to fix the latter, aided by new guitarist Paul Malinowski (formerly of Shiner and Season to Risk), in 2008. On Between, Malinowski again joins Mike Allmayer (principal singer, songwriter and guitarist), Matt Kesler (bass) and Rob Morrow (drums). In conversation, it quickly becomes apparent that today's Pedaljets feel as unified as this new record.

The Pitch: You've made two records in a row now as this band, if you count one made up of 20-year-old material. What's in Between is almost all new material; besides that, what strikes you as most significantly different about the two albums?

Allmayer: Pedaljets was a transitional record. We were no longer the brash kids who were going in and making a record, but we also didn't have a completely cohesive vision of what we wanted to do. We've gotten to the point where we're confident enough to know what we want.

Malinowski: I love that there are both Detroit-type rockers here and songs that are much more spacious, like "Some Kind of One" and "Change." As a whole, this album feels more complex to me. Pedaljets was a little disjointed. These songs live together much better.

Morrow: At various points, I've probably counted every song as the best one, which I think is a sign of a great record.

What accounts for that?

Kesler: We were able to spend a lot more time trying different ideas and instruments. Back in the day, we had limited time and resources. All the recording and mixing had to be done quickly due to budget and studio availability. Now digital recording can be done almost anywhere, and time becomes less of a factor. With that said, my favorite times this go-around were in Westend Studios, running straight to 2-inch tape, old school.

Allmayer: Communion was a well-respected label, but they gave us $1,000 to record an album, which translates into about three days in the studio. This time, I wanted to take some songs I'd written and explore them fully with the guys. We had the time and we had the resources to do it the way we wanted and do it right. I approached things like, if this riff wears on us, let's lose it.

What are some examples of songs you kept going at until you got them right?

Allmayer: I had some concerns about my vocal on "Conversations," but they all talked me out of changing it.

Kesler: I think Mike was concerned because we used his original vocal track, which was a scratch track from the 1989 sessions.

Malinowski: We started working on that first. There were lots of missing parts. But no matter what we did with the vocal, no other version seemed to have the right amount of energy.

I couldn't tell it was Mike's voice recorded 20 years apart from the other stuff.

Malinowski: Yeah, that's what's great about it. It doesn't matter!

Morrow: We had recorded the song "Change," but it was a little bit lifeless compared to the other tunes. And we were on the verge of having to decide whether to keep it. One night, Mike and I came up with this brilliant chorus, which happened quickly. Suddenly we were generating one good idea after another, and we immediately switched on the mics and recorded the new things so we wouldn't forget them. The original recordings we made that night were so inspired that those are the ones you hear now, on the record. That was an incredible session, magical. From there, that burst of creativity cascaded into rehabbing the middle bit, and then later adding this really beautiful ending.

Malinowski: "Some Kind of One" ended up being the hidden gem. It has this interesting retro feel. Matt had been talking about how we ought to try some old-fashioned hard panning [complete separation of sounds in the stereo mix], and when we played it for John [Agnello, the Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. producer, who mixed the record], he immediately got it. It was the last of the basic tracks we finished, the very last one we decided to add to the group we were going to mix, and it came alive when we heard what John did. He knew just where to take it.

Kesler: "Some Kind of One" is interesting because it is not your typical Pedaljets song. The Beach Boys harmonies were a result of me singing an idea for a string section. We never brought in the orchestra.

I think this is the most moving of the Pedaljets' albums. Any thoughts about why?

Allmayer: As a kid, the world is a massive place that can push you around, and that gives you an attitude, a shell. I always had this persona as a rock-an - PITCH MAGAZINE

If the name of this band pops up in a conversation (a highly unlikely conversation, one might think), soon enough you will start talking about The Replacements. Which is kind of inevitable. Back in the 80’s, Pedaljets released two albums full of songs that an uninspired Paul Westerberg could have come up with. Still, I had high hopes for this comeback, and I’m happy to report: 25 years after 1988’s Today Today, Pedaljets finally prove that they may have been great songwriters all along.

“Terra Nova” is an effective lead-off single that balances the band’s rougher, Detroit rock side, with a terrific vocal hook. “Riverview” is more of the same, only minus the hook, which makes it a bit generic. Thankfully, we then have a major highlight in the delightfully melodic “Conversations”, whose piano and acoustic guitar rhythm rolls on in a truly classic, slightly Bowie-esque way. The middle eight is unmistakably Beatlesque. Then the opening organ of “Change” reinstates your suspicion that the long wait has been worthwhile. This is strong songwriting. You do stumble upon a rather predictable rocker once or twice, but the overall impression is great. The riff of “Nature Boy” is tastefully rough and memorable. The anthemic “Goodbye To All That” has a tune to kill for.

In a recent interview with Pedaljets, I’ve read that they actually consider What’s In Between their best album. No argument here. All the best sides of the band are represented, and the album is simply a joy to listen to. Stylistically, nothing has changed, but that’s not really an issue when the songs are this good. So that next time my hand might reach for Tim or Pleased To Meet Me, I will think twice.

Alexey Provolotsky - ART SCHOOL BOP

A new album from The Pedaljets? It has indeed been while since the floors were shaken by those Midwest rockers and, perhaps unsurprisingly, nothing much has changed since their heyday back when radio was still king.

There is proto grunge aplenty to be found here with riffs and four to floor drumming moving the songs along nicely just like the V8 in a slightly worn Pontiac. All those years to practice and ponder prove a benefit too with a professionalism evident that seems almost at odds with the band’s just escaped from the garage rock penitentiary groove. “Conversations”, for example, could easily be taken for a pastiche of a Steven Bishop song and “Dead Day Return” a homage to the sound of a much more successful band.

The mark of class, however, makes an unexpected appearance in the reflective “Goodbye To All That”. I’d also say that you will also find the mark of maturity in that song too and it’s a stadium filling song without a doubt.

You can’t keep a good band down and “What’s In Between” is the proof of that.
- BLUES BUNNY

The Pedaljets’ early history is a trail of acclaim, brushes with fame, battles with disappointment and admission of defeat. For the past several years, however, the plot has changed, to one of revival and revision.

“We could have said, ‘We were a (bleeping) great band in the ’80s that deserved more than it got and didn’t get the right breaks and blah, blah, blah,’” said Mike Allmayer, the band’s lead singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist.

“But that’s whining. In the end, being in a band is all about making music with people you like and doing it with a sense of joy and doing it for that reason primarily.”

Saturday night the Pedaljets will celebrate the vinyl release of “What’s In Between,” the first full-length of original material in 23 years from a band that was recently heralded as a “vintage underground rock act from Kansas” by the AV Club, an entertainment newspaper published by online humor magazine the Onion.

“Between” is also the band’s first release since it went into the studio in 2007 and remade “The Pedaljets” album, 17 years after its original release.

“Nothing moves quickly with the Pedaljets,” Allmayer said.

It wasn’t always that way.

In the mid-1980s, things moved swiftly. The Pedaljets, founded in Lawrence in 1984, were touring with underground legends like Hüsker Dü and the Replacements and hopping aboard bills with a variety of bands, from the newly minted Soul Asylum and the Meat Puppets to the Indigo Girls and the hardcore punk band Flipper.

“A lot of people don’t realize that the Pedaljets were part of that Midwestern rock sound of the 1980s, alongside the Replacements, Soul Asylum and Hüsker Dü,” said Robert Moore, host of the weekly “Sonic Spectrum” show on KRBZ (96.5 FM).

Along the way, the lineup changed, but the band assembled colorful stories to tell: of Prince jumping onstage at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis during his “Purple Rain” days and using the Pedaljets’ instruments to play a few songs (and leaving a glove behind in a guitar case); of punk madman GG Allin starting a brawl with the headlining band at a show in Boston; and of having the band’s name appear on a flier for a split second during opening credits to a season of “Saturday Night Live.”

They weren’t famous, but in the underground indie-rock culture at the time, they were well known.

“That’s when every college town had one club that was the alternative club,” Allmayer said. “And that’s where we played.”

“What made them such a happening band is they were on the front end of that noisy-core, pop-punk sound, like Hüsker Dü,” said Doug Hitchcock, who wrote about music for the Lawrence Journal-World in the 1980s. “They seized that ball earlier than other bands in town. The other thing about them is they were better players than other bands, even some bands that were better known. They had a little more musicality right out of the box.”

In 1988, the Pedaljets released “Today, Today,” their first full-length, and the music world responded positively. The Trouser Press Record Guide (the Pitchfork of its day) said of the album: “an intriguing sound — Byrds-like harmonies and punky Replacements rawness.”

The follow-up, “The Pedaljets,” was released two years later with different results. “We rushed it,” Allmayer said. “We went in to record it really quickly, and it was botched. It was unfinished.” Some critics agreed. This time, the Trouser Press called the record a “disappointing misstep in the wrong direction.” But it was a larger sign: of a band on the brink of dissolution.

In 1990, just as MTV was airing the video to “Place in the Race” from the “Pedaljets” album, the band broke up and became another near-miss on the list of legendary Kansas City/Lawrence bands. The breakup started when Phil Wade, who joined the band in 1988, left to join the Wilders full time. Allmayer started another band, Grither, and bassist Matt Kesler, who owns the Midwestern Music Co., started the Midtown Quartet.

After six years of touring relentlessly, all agreed a break was needed.

“We’d had a great time,” Kesler said. “We were full-time musicians in a band playing original music, touring the country, playing in the coolest places with the coolest bands.”

But?

“We never stopped touring,” drummer Rob Morrow said. “The only time we stopped was to make the record. We never took time to get away from each other.”

The break lasted almost 17 years, save for a single reunion show at the Hurricane in 1996. Ten years later, Wade unearthed a demo of “Guilty Pleasure,” a track from the “Pedaljets” sessions. He brought it to the rest of the band. Wheels started turning, and balls started rolling.

In 2007, with producer Paul Malinowski at the helm, the band released a brighter, cleaner and more-finished version of “The Pedaljets.”

In that remodeling process, all four members remembered how much they’d loved being in the band and playing its music. And thus - INK MAGAZINE

The release of this album was noted in the AV Club, the straight-faced music domain of the satire-news magazine the Onion, but not for comedic reasons. The Pedaljets were a cult band in the early- to mid-1980s that kept good company, as in Hüsker Dü and the Replacements.

“Between” is the band’s first album since “Pedaljets” in 2008. To say it’s more of the same is reassurance: Mike Allmayer can still write songs with melody and big choruses and sturdy bridges and turn them over to a band that gives them calluses and heft. It’s all loud, groovy and tuneful, full of riffs and big choruses, between heavy rock and an indie-pop place.


- KANSAS CITY STAR

The release of this album was noted in the AV Club, the straight-faced music domain of the satire-news magazine the Onion, but not for comedic reasons. The Pedaljets were a cult band in the early- to mid-1980s that kept good company, as in Hüsker Dü and the Replacements.

“Between” is the band’s first album since “Pedaljets” in 2008. To say it’s more of the same is reassurance: Mike Allmayer can still write songs with melody and big choruses and sturdy bridges and turn them over to a band that gives them calluses and heft. It’s all loud, groovy and tuneful, full of riffs and big choruses, between heavy rock and an indie-pop place.


- KANSAS CITY STAR

Once upon a time in the mid 1980's to early 1990's there was a wonderful Rock and Roll band from Lawrence, Kansas called The Pedaljets. They played all over the United States. They played all the right bars and clubs. All the right shows. They played with all the right bands. They seemingly played all the right notes. They put out an album Today Today that lots of people admired for good reason. They wrote great songs. As fate would have it, they never got to take a “front row” ride on the rock and roll roller coaster. The sacked it in early 1990. Anyone who listened to them I bet would say, “With heads held high.” Like so many other Rock and Roll jewels of the midwest, somehow they never got their full due. Now, with the release of their newest record, What’s In Between, the time has come for that to change.

23 years later, the Pedaljets release a new batch of brand new tunes, What’s In Between. It starts with a menacing, driving, ominous tone of a beast being woken up from a long slumber. Their song “Terra Nova” is the perfect start to such a long lay off. It’s really funny trying to try to to compare what it sounds like to a modern audience. Most of the groups that I’m thinking of came out after Pedaljets sacked it. This makes me question, “How many bands did they inspire?” The beautiful thing about this album is that the Pedaljets have such a wonderful “Take it, or leave it” rock and roll confidence to their music. After 23 Years, there is zero desperation to “make” you like what they are doing. The “Been there, done that” attitude to the songwriting stands out. It makes the listener know their hearts are in the right place. Listeners aren’t stupid, they know when they are in good hands.

Chief songwriter Mike Allmayer is at his best. I’ve read in many places a comparison to Paul Westerberg and The Replacements. Normally I cringe when I read that because of all the let downs. It makes sense here. Songs like “Conversations”, “Change”, “Some Kind Of One” and “Measurement” have that Beatle-esque master craft to them. A slight country twang pops into the tunes and Mike’s voice now and then. The song “Change” stands out to me most lyrically. The wisdom of a 23 year layoff shines through.

I like the ballady, pop rock songs better than the straight forward rockers on What’s In Between. The more aggressive rock tunes like “Dead Day Return”, “Nothing Boy”, “Clowns And Jackals”, have a Dead Boys, Murder City Devils drive to them. There are times on these songs that Mike sounds a bit like Tom Petty. These songs aren’t bad, they just aren’t as captivating as the others. Super producer Paul Malinowski, who joined the mix when he helped revamp the Pedaljets self-titled release a couple of years ago, has stayed on as a second guitarist. He passed the mixing torch off to the legendary hands of John Agnello. This is a great collaboration, the production of this record is top notch.

What’s In Between has a little bit of something for everyone who loves rock and roll. It grows on you with every listen. This cruel unjust world will likely never give this band their deserved appreciation. The romantic in me would like to think The Pedaljets don’t give a fuck. In the day and age of bands from their heyday reforming to play reunion shows, The Pedaljets better hit the road to support their new album! Three cheers to a wonderful project. Tony Filipowicz
- EAR BUDDY

Ghettoblaster Magazine June, 2013

After a 23-year absence, Pedaljets have returned with 11 brand new songs that feel as if they picked right back up from where they left off… and that’s a good thing! It represents a lot of what was good about the
90s and also stacks up really well with what’s current. These guys flew under the radar during their short time originally and after hearing the album’s high-energy opener “Terra Nova” (which has all the vocal
swagger of Iggy Pop, courtesy of Mike Allmayer) I cannot understand why. The band sounds as tight as ever, you’d almost think they never stopped playing together. With so many 90s “alternative” bands reforming, it’s kind of nice to see one that wasn’t as huge follow suit and make the listeners wonder what they hell they were missing.

REVIEWER: Ryan Fetter
- GHETTO BLASTER MAGAZINE

Pedaljets’ 1988 debut Today Today was an undersung gem of pre-grunge US ’80s rock. The band reconvened, with Paul Malinowski replacing Phil Wade, in 2006. Their salvoes of high-powered melodic punk, laced with Beatles harmonies (the dazed and lovely “Some Kind of One”), prove affirmative and energizing with hard-won wisdom at the core. Embattled and combative on “Terra Nova”, offering a masterclass in curdled sarcasm on the belligerent “Conversations”, Mike Allmayer’s brand of hangdog dirty realism combines potency and killer riffs in equal measure. A belated but timely return.

REVIEWER: GAVIN MARTIN

8 of 10
- UNCUT MAGAZINE

BLURT MAGAZINE June, 2013

Pedaljets arose in the mid-1980s out of the same rough-housing Kansas indie scene that birthed The Embarrassment (whose Bill Goffrier came east to co-found the great Big Dipper). The band was, at one time, a raucous r ‘n r contender in the hunt for the next ‘Mats, Husker or Meat Puppets. They shared stages with all these bands. Yet Pedaljets made just two albums in its heyday, the grungy, rackety debut Today Today in 1988 and the rushed and less satisfying S-T in 1989. They split a year after the second record, worn out with touring and disappointed with their showing. The Pedaljets’ sophomore effort apparently rankled so much that the band actually reformed to re-record it in 2006.

By 2006, naturally, the music industry was already well into its retro-obsession with short-lived post-punk legends, having raised the middle-aged ghosts of Mission of Burma, the Pixies, Gang of Four and countless other bands that could be your life (if you didn’t already have a life). So, Pedaljets kept going, playing local shows, recording and finally, in 2012, releasing their first new material in 23 years, a single of “Terra Nova” backed with “Riverview”.

The two songs lead off What’s In Between, the Pedaljets quarter-century-gapped third album (another version of “Terra Nova” also closes out the album). And, let’s be clear, they have more than a whiff of the 1980s in them. “Terra Nova” comes from the land where the Pixies meet Devo with its menacing, new wave bassline, its twitchy staccato guitar. “Riverview” leans more towards Americana, a boot-stomping road-house vamp under close R.E.M.-into-Jayhawks harmonies. “Conversations,” one of the best of the new songs, splits the difference between Paisley Pop and sloppy Mats-style mayhem, a Brit-pop melody scuzzed over with beer-sticky American rock bravado. Even so, the song that popped first for me was a quiet one, the radiant but also simmering “Goodbye to All of That.” It’s the song that wraps a young man’s chiming guitar dreams in an older man’s ruefulness. It stays low to the ground but also somehow soars. Its criss-crossing shouts of “Goodbye to that” pierce the strum and clatter with a close-to-tragic resonance.

If you go back as far as the Pedaljets do, you’ve said goodbye to a lot of things, some you miss more than others. Let’s all be glad that these guys are also saying “hello again” to a worthy if not quite star-making band.

REVIEWER: Jennifer Kelly
- BLURT MAGAZINE

The Pedaljets came bursting out of Lawrence, Kansas in the late 80s with a pair of LPs that put a proto-grunge spin on power pop and bar-band rock. Nearly a quarter-century after it split, the quartet came back, first to remix its self-titled second album and then to enter into a full-on resurrection. What’s In Between is the fruit of that reunion, a smart, vibrant rock & roll record that perfect balances loose (not sloppy) performances with highly-crafted writing. The album opens with “Terra Nova,” a spitting take on postpunk with more casual spite than a conservative talk show host and more balls than a sports field. “Nothing Boy,” “Dead Day Return” and “Clowns and Jackals” bash and crash, blending catchy hooks with careening energy in the Midwest alt.rock tradition. “Change” and “Conversations” strip the varnish from Beatlesque pop, eschewing lushness for naked melodicism. “Measurement” and “Riverview” find a balance between the two, pumping up jangling pop melodies with noisy rawk energy. “Tangled Up” constitutes the band’s distinct take on country music, while “Some Kind of One” and “Goodbye to All of That” indulge in raw but graceful balladry. Varied and consistent, What’s In Between doesn’t sound like a final statement taking a band out in style, but the next chapter in a whole new novel. MICHAEL TOLAND - BIG TAKEOVER