Albums
RECORDED AND MIXED AT BAKER ST. PRODUCTIONS
BY PAUL BAKER + LISA TYACK EXCEPT SONGS 3/10
RECORDED + MIXED BY SEAN McLAUGHLIN AND EARTHA
ANN HANSON AT S.T.R.S. SONG 1 MIXED BY MIKE
ROGERSON. MASTERED BY JAMIE SITAR AT SUITE
SOUND LABS. DESIGN AND LAYOUT BY CATATONIC
PRODUCTIONS. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEH COUTU.
- ALL MUSIC AND LYRICS BY : SEAN McLAUGHLIN
- EARTHA ANN HANSON : VOCALS, B.G. VOCALS,
TRUMPET
- JOE FAZIO : DRUMS
- SEAN McLAUGHLIN : VOCALS, B.G. VOCALS, ACOUSTIC
GUITARS, ELECTRIC GUITARS, PIANO, BASS, KEYBOARDS,
E-M1, SAMPLES, DRUMS, ALL DRUM PROGRAMMING
- PRODUCED AND ARRANGED BY SEAN McLAUGHLIN
- COPYRIGHT McLAUGHLIN SONGS 2006 SOCAN/ASCAP
EXCLAIM MAGAZINE (REVIEW)
Vancouver musician Sean McLaughlin
is the
sole brain trust of the Simples.
Writing,arranging
and performing everything save
drums (by
Joe Fazio) and trumpet, with
some keys and
vocals by Eartha-Ann Hanson,
McLaughlin displays
a remarkable knack for composition.
The crashing
opening of 'Building a Wall'
recalls the
epic tenderness of Coldplay's
strongest moments
but delivered with greater force.
For every
mature pop tendency visited with
impeccable
professionalism there is a matching
diversion
into more varied territory, like
the sputtering
electronics and trip-hop groove
at the end
of track three. Delicate folk
strumming and
muggy summertime melodies are
as delicious
to gulp down as fresh lemonade
in the blistering
heat, but never expect the Simples
to rest
too long in a comfort zone. Entering
the
albums final third, 'Makin'Mary
Ann' touches
briefly on the rock conventions
that make
Interpol popular before diving
back into
a lucid pool of ambient piano
balladry and
electro pop experiments. Already
Gone Magnolias-
is a great album to share with
a loved one
at bedtime.
-Scott A.Gray
THE VANCOUVER PROVINCE (REVIEW)
A wide-ranging album that has brief echoes
of Nirvana and The Byrds to trip-hop, ALREADY
GONE MAGNOLIAS points to Sean McLaughlin's
ambition as a composer and arranger. There
is more than pop and rock, but an admirable,
unclassified diversity
B
-Tom Harrison
- Released in the fall of 2000.
- Recorded by Paul Baker and Mike (Mikey) Rogerson
at Bakerstreet St. Productions in North Vancouver.
- All songs written and arranged by Sean McLaughlin.
Copyright McLaughlin Songs 1999 SOCAN ascap
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To listen to Beauty Salon click
on
the monkey in the helmet
THE FLY MAGAZINE U.K.(REVIEW)
With 1997s debut Nobody Loves An Albatross,
The Simples seemed to believe the Beatles
were still in the recording studio, sharing
a bong with the House of Love. The Vancouver
act jumped between dreamy and dark pop and
sounded like a vintage recording act. Beauty
Salon assumes the same and improves on their
initial release. Led by guitarist Sean McLaughlin,
who at times is vocally reminiscent of The
Churchs' Steve Kilbey, McLaughlin has developed
a straightforward pop sound with little use
for noise or muscle-guitar workouts. Although
the occasional lead guitar flourish surfaces
as on the glorious, She Said or Forever,
McLaughlin survives on melody. Beauty Salon
is on the whole a strong follow-up. Word
is that a few of the major labels are sniffling
around their live shows.
- Released in the fall of 1997
- Recorded on 2 inch tape and digitally mastered
at
- Burning Sound Studio in Burnaby, British
Columbia
- Produced by Sean McLaughlin
- Engineered by Craig Burner
- Featuring Melanie Sereda on cello
- All songs written by Sean McLaughlin
- Copyright 1997 SOCAN ascap
- All rights reserved.
THE VANCOUVER PROVINCE (REVIEW)
The Simples more or less are North Vancouver's
Sean McLaughlin, the writer and principal
musician on most of this album's eight tracks.
His low-keyed, understated approach is loaded
with hidden hooks that take their time to
dig in but stay that much longer. The Broken
Shell has a haunting melody both heightened
and underscored by cello and a plaintive
vocal that summons a number of possible influences,
most them English and including Syd Barrett,
The Smiths, Nick Drake, even Robyn Hitchcock.
* * *
-Tom Harrison
THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT (REVIEW)
With song titles like "It Pisses Me
Off" and "Asshole Spaceman"'
you expect the Simples to sound like a cross
between Rage Against The Machine and Green
Day. Surprisingly, the seven tracks on Nobody
Loves An Albatross fall between the codein
pop of Helium and the ragged indie pop of
early Sebadoh. How much enjoyment you get
out of the Simples depends entirely on your
state of mind. Nobody Loves An Albatross
isn't the album you want on the stereo when
you're getting set to tear up the town on
a Friday night. But as for those rainy nights
when you don't feel like doing anything but
unplugging the phone and holing up with a
six pack of Labatts Blue, let's just say
that Simples songwriter Sean McLaughlin sounds
like a guy who's been there.
-Mike Usinger
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Our Current Videos
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This is the
"It Pisses Me Off"
music video from
Nobody Loves
An Albatross
(click on the image to
learn more and
download a copy).
This is the
" She Hates Me"
video from
Beauty Salon
(click on the image to
learn more and
download a copy)
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