Grid Magazine, May 1997

TEENIE EP
Semi-Gloss
(Dirt Records, P.O. Box 1053, NY, NY 10002)

"Wild for You," the first song of Semi-Gloss's Teenie EP begins with a slow pulsing lead-in that slowly gives way to guitars in such a way as to evoke images of a sort of glam-pop Sonic Youth. A minute-and-a-half in, though, we realize that we're in for a different sort of ride, one that's a lot happier and catchier and more charming, a little jangly and more lyrical, not too far from Yo La Tengo. But not all that close either.

Whatever it is, it works, especially in the first three songs. The fourth song, "Who's Gonna Be Your Man," turns a lot more overtly folksy and doesn't get its hooks in nearly as deep. Ditto for the fifth, which is less concerned with being distinctive.  But the last song, "Lo-ride Hi-fi" pulls it together again.

There's a lot of promise here, a lot to recommend Semi-Gloss. With an album coming out in June, it won't be long before we can see if Semi-Gloss will be able to build on that promise. My guess is they will. (Brian Evenson)

In a nutshell: Happy, catchy, charming.