Stabilo Cupid? Release Date : May 11, 2004 Label: Virgin Records Rating: Andy doesn't dig rating stuff. All right, all right, I fold. I liked Stabilo, but grew away from them for a while, and honestly sort of ignored them. But I can't any longer, because you know what? They're just damn good. Previously Stabilo Boss and a fixture on the Vancouver circuit for a while, I first saw them at the New Music West festival in 2002. I was totally impressed with the wavery voice and the awesome guitar. They moved on to be finalists in a Battle Of The Bands-type competition for a now-defunct rock radio station, and before you know it, they had a record deal, a truncated name, and a nationwide following. This album is awesomely cool. The groove-able guitar vibe and intense voice run richly through it. Yeah, you just gotta move. The vocals have the same easy rhythm as a hip-hop song, though this is anything but. "Everybody," which is the first single from the 7-track disc, is a great introductory tune for the band. All the elements that make these guys tick are there, and it includes honest and spot-on lyrics about general things that, indeed, people want or need or do or have. Begs for self-esteem. Sprays perfume to cover up the smell. Kicked by other heels. Five more minutes in bed. And oh God, that voice. It's sexy somehow, unintentionally (I think. The band doesn't come across as attempting to be 'sex symbols' or write sexy songs, but that voice oozes passion and sensuality). "Stone," the disc's third track, is a bit more country, with a piano sinking through drawly guitars. Chris Moerman sings this one, as opposed to Jesse Dryfhout, who carries the majority of the lead vocals on this selection of songs. Moerman's voice is much softer and more fluid than Dryfhout's warble, and gives this track a really different feeling. It sounds much more relaxed and could almost be a different band entirely. It's a bit funky even. "Any Other Girl" has a woopy background effect. Somehow this all sounds very 'Commercial Drive.' If you live in Vancouver you know what that means. If you don't, it's basically like a trendy-hippie kind of thing, where it's the ultimate in cool to be earthy and diverse. Parts of this remind me even of a stripped-down Jamiroquai. This track trips into a piano part though that feels a bit clumsy. But I think I'm really a fan of Dryfhout's voice. At the outset, "One More Pill" sounds like it fell off a David Gray b-side, but then it drums to life with this ploddy bassy riff. I'll forget this face in time. I said goodbye too many times to fall at your door. And I walked away so far away. Still I walk some more. It's sad and touching. Insecure. Hits home to anyone who's ever felt that sort of need, which I suppose is all of us at one point or another. But as the song goes on, it gains confidence, ending with images like walking on water. How inspirational! The sixth tune, "?", is lovely and romantic-comedy-movie-soundtrackish. The words said here are so strong and loving. The last song on the disc is also sung by Moerman. It sounds vaguely like Collective Soul. Okay, very Collective Soul. For the record, I sheepishly kinda like Collective Soul. So shoot me. It's so strange how different the songs feel depending on the vocalist. This track is so much more smooth and uplifting-sounding. The perfect, feverish intensity of Dryfhout's voice is lost, but it's replaced with this feel-good soaring quality. Many of these songs are quelled from the band's history, stretching back into the late 90's, but the treatment they're given on this album makes them sound fresh and new and modern. They've done a great job creating a startlingly beautiful disc that runs you through a range of emotions. It's like living a year in just under half an hour. Lyric of choice : My heart has been trying to speak to you for years / I've held back because I've never talked to an angel / but I see one when I look in your eyes / I know you're not trying in your actions / yeah you're just being you from "?" Song of choice : The single, "Everybody." So intense and so true. -Andy Scheffler Elsewhere Stabilo website Published : July 15, 2004.