Lexicon Magazine - New Wave and Beyond
Issue Number 6, Winter 1998
The Cold - Three Chord City CD (TP-1011, Top Pop Records)
Remember the Dads? Probably not, they were huge in Virginia the early '80s, got signed to CBS
Associated and fell off the face of the earth. The Cold never got signed (that I know of) but seemed to be the same kind of band, a really good local band that never made it out of a region. The band, which had at least two singers, Kevin Radecker and Barbara Menendez, found a small degree of success in New Orleans, managing to get radio airplay in a time where most local bands were R&B and not new wave.
Three Chord City collects various singles and album cuts from the band's short but prodigious career. 26 songs, most of them as catchy as anything coming out of the U.K. or the East and West coasts of the U.S.at the time. The band eventually broke up when lead singer Barbara Menendez quit, saying she was ready to move on. Ex-band members are still active in music and one, Vance DeGeneres, (yes Ellen's brother) has found success as a writer in Hollywood.
Sounding at times like early Scandal or an under-produced Go-Go's, the Cold made little power pop gems with a new wave gilt. "You" and "Mesmerized" (the bands two New Orleans hits) are the stand out tracks, they bop along with a kind of '80s Frat Rock enthusiasm. "Russian Around" rises above the word play to become a jammin little tune one can imagine in some mod-sixties movie.
"Working Girl" sounds like a lost Marshall Crenshaw song. All in all there isn't a spotty track on this
collection. Lots of guitars turned up to their power pop full, catchy choruses and hummable tunes - what more could you ask for from a new wave record?
The record has excellent liner notes and a clear sound. An excellent re-issue job.
Issue Number 6, Winter 1998
The Cold - Three Chord City CD (TP-1011, Top Pop Records)
Remember the Dads? Probably not, they were huge in Virginia the early '80s, got signed to CBS
Associated and fell off the face of the earth. The Cold never got signed (that I know of) but seemed to be the same kind of band, a really good local band that never made it out of a region. The band, which had at least two singers, Kevin Radecker and Barbara Menendez, found a small degree of success in New Orleans, managing to get radio airplay in a time where most local bands were R&B and not new wave.
Three Chord City collects various singles and album cuts from the band's short but prodigious career. 26 songs, most of them as catchy as anything coming out of the U.K. or the East and West coasts of the U.S.at the time. The band eventually broke up when lead singer Barbara Menendez quit, saying she was ready to move on. Ex-band members are still active in music and one, Vance DeGeneres, (yes Ellen's brother) has found success as a writer in Hollywood.
Sounding at times like early Scandal or an under-produced Go-Go's, the Cold made little power pop gems with a new wave gilt. "You" and "Mesmerized" (the bands two New Orleans hits) are the stand out tracks, they bop along with a kind of '80s Frat Rock enthusiasm. "Russian Around" rises above the word play to become a jammin little tune one can imagine in some mod-sixties movie.
"Working Girl" sounds like a lost Marshall Crenshaw song. All in all there isn't a spotty track on this
collection. Lots of guitars turned up to their power pop full, catchy choruses and hummable tunes - what more could you ask for from a new wave record?
The record has excellent liner notes and a clear sound. An excellent re-issue job.
