December 2003

Compilation Review, The Noise Magazine
By Sleazegrinder

VARIOUS ARTISTS
CST
These are Centre Street Tracks
13 songs

I lived off of Centre Street, in historic and picturesque Jamaica Plain, until I was five years old. Star Lane, to be exact. You'd think, then, that this comp would at least give me a few warm n' fuzzy tinges of childhood nostalgia. Unfortunately, what I most remember about that house is that my grandmother died in the living room, my grandfather fell down the stairs and had a stroke there, and my father once got drunk and tried burning the whole joint down, while we were all in it. So, the nostalgia aspect is out the window. What I am left with is the collective rattle and sigh of an enthusiastic community full of scruffy, creative characters who all sound like they spend a whole lotta time at the coffee shop discussing thrift shop finds and obscure French poets. You know the type, right? Hell, you probably are the type. As such, you hardly need me to extol whatever virtues hazy blisspop bands like Tiger Saw, Soltero, Verona Downs, and The Future Tips possess. The liveliest moments on the disc come courtesy the snarky powerpopping Cautions, whose "Coffee Shop Girl" (Aha!) is a pretty bitchin' take on the ol' Fountains of Wayne funny/ rocking formula, and closers Eyes Like Knives, who channel the same indie-grunge vibes as The Model Sons, but for most of it's running time, Centre Street rarely raises its voice above a whisper, which is really not the way I remember that street at all. I remember lots of screaming and crying.