Q Magazine - September 2002.
THE CHEVELLES - GIRL GOD - ZIP Records

Third full length album from the Perth - Australia power poppers. Already receiving raves in the USA and Japan, The Chevelles would do wonders for Radio 1 if given the chance. At their best they are a cross between early Ramones and Redd Kross, which is enough to forgive weaker moments that sound like Teenage Fanclub rehearsing the theme from Friends over and over. The opening song Every Moment states the template: catchy melody, great guitar riffs and big unison chorus, while Girl God sounds good enough to be a outtake from 70's power-pop stalwarts The Raspberries. Better still is their original C'mon Everybody, a true party anthem made for MTV, or the rocker Angelina Joie, both mixed perfectly for summer radio by Redd Kross's Steve McDonald. Living proof that two guitars, bass and drums can still sound inspirational.

Q Magazine - September 2002 edition.

THE CHEVELLES
Girl God (Zip records/MGM distribution)

If another band is currently passing as the kings of power pop, then they
are usurpers; pretenders to the throne. The Chevelles are the once and
future kings, and with Girl God they return to reclaim the crown that they
last held with their Sunbleached EP (2000). The band has perfected the knack of producing crisp, shiny three-minute blasts of summery pop. Their track record is so strong that they could almost have refined the process down to a precise formula ­ except for the fact that there¹s nothing formulaic about their songs.
The songwriting duties alternate song to song between guitarists Duane Smith
and Adrian Allen, with each penning roughly half the album. Their styles are
very complementary, to the point where it's nigh impossible to generalise
about the finer points of one in relation to the other. 

The anthemic C¹mon Everybody is a nostalgic tribute to the Sunnyboys,
wrapped up in a tight package of ringing guitars, melody, and nice vocal
harmonies. It¹s guaranteed to ignite a spark in the heart of pop-lovers of
all ages, even those who wouldn¹'t know the Sunnyboys from a bar of soap
(cough, cough). With a classically simple chorus (it basically just repeats
the title of the song), it¹s hard to pass up. Angelina Jolie ­ good god! Does it rock! If only the weird-lipped Hollywood star of the title had heard this plea to "Angelina be mine" before she married Billy Bob ThorntonS well, she probably still would have married him. But it would have been even more inexplicable than it already was. The explosive Madeleine is another winner. If it wasn't for the angelic vocals, it would probably be classified as hard rock (you want guitar solos? You got it, bud!). But it¹s not all pop on overdrive. Round And Round and Here She Comes bring the tempo down a notch, while Supernova is (in contrast to its name) a mellow number. The Chevelles¹ sound has a lineage that can be traced all the way back to The Beach Boys. There ain't a dud song here, and while in general they all mine similar territory, there¹s sufficient variation to keep this reviewer happy. For a taster, I recommend C¹mon Everybody, the majestic Goodbye Sally, Every Moment and First Time ­ Last Time. Follow this dosage with the entire album. This is an essential addition to any self-respecting guitar-pop fan's collection.

Owen Heitmann
rip It Up (Sout Australian Street press)

BEAT MAGAZINE - Melbourne
The Chevelles ­ Girl God

CD review by Kerrie Hickin

It's a bit of a Trojan horse, this CD. It seems simple enough, but in fact is a vehicle for sneaky songs to get into your brain and start taking over. It's no secret that I'm a total sucker for well-crafted powerpop songs. And it'd be a pretty good bet that something like this would be right up my proverbial alley ­ it's got all the trademarks: summer-y melodic hooks, guitars with power without being overpowering, classic 60s/70s pop references, heck, even cute graphics. And the band is from the musical Galapagos Islands that is Perth. The good folks at Zip Records know how to sniff out the best powerpop. This one is a little bit Raspberries, a little bit Flamin' Groovies, and a lot of that indefinable something-in-the-water-besides-sharks 'Perth sound'. With two songwriters in the band, the songs are joyous bursts of happy-powder ­ even the sad one ­ and any one of them could stand alone. As it turns out my fave tracks are Angelina Jolie and the single C'mon Everybody (about sneaking in to a Sunnyboys gig, no less) both mixed by Redd Kross groovy guru Steve McDonald, with Sydney pop supremo Michael Carpenter lending his mixing talents to some of the other tracks. Just why this sort of accessible quality music doesn't get the wider audience it deserves continues to be a perplexing mystery to me. It's catchy as all get-up and easy to fall in love with. It's just as the guys sing, 'can't you see it's a passion of mine', and it could be yours too. Take a chance. (And I'm still waiting for that east-coast tour, fellas!)

The Chevelles
Sunbleached EP

"The bungalow is reverberating with pop noise harmony, paying tribute to Air Supply and female car consumers from the 60's.  they have been Down Under for six albums and have finally pulled up in the driveway of America with blistered hands, electric eyes, and amplified hearts, ready for your love. For Australian beach punks thrashing with inflatable flotation devices because they are young and euphoric".
I.S Giant Robot, 
Japan
May 2001

The Chevelles
C'mon Everybody
Zip
The weekly dose of Perth's wonderful way with guitars comes from one of the veterans of the form. But a decade in, The Chevelles are still ripping 'em out. It's all here: the drums are cracking and splashing, the guitars are overflowing tunefully everywhere. and the lyrics include a vignette of licking your entry stamp onto a mate so you can get into a Sunnyboys show for free. Gotta love that. They then go into their tribute to Angelina Jolle, and again we learn to hate Billie Bob Thornton, but with the aforementioned guitars expressing the frustration. Still to be filled under 'power pop'. As it should be.

Ross Clelland.

The Chevelles

C'mon Everybody

The WA arm of Zip Records is making a habit of teaming its jangle pop boys
with some big name spiritual forebears - last week it was Superscope
utilising the studio experience of Mr Posies, Ken Stringfellow. This week
The Chevelles make use of Steven McDonald of the permanently baby-faced Redd
Kross. But, y¹know, whateverS when the guitars are strummin¹ madly and the
sounds are this infectious, who cares who mixed the bleedin¹ thing? After 10
years or so of hard graft, it¹s about time Australia stood up and took
notice of The Chevelles. However, there is no approving of their love ode to
Angelina Jolie, cos that¹s just plain wrong.

neala johnson
Beat magazine - Melbourne

US Review at http://www.LMNOP.com


The Chevelles - Sun Bleached (CD, Zip, Pop)
Zip Records is a serious American connection for up and coming Australian
pop bands. One of the label's first releases for 2001, the new EP by The
Chevelles is a pop lovers delight. Fuzzy loud guitars surround bubblegummy
vocals while energetic rhythms drive the tunes home. The band's simple
arrangements are most arresting, and the vocal harmonies are absolutely
super. The only problem? Hey...only five (!) tunes? We wanna hear MORE...
Great upbeat stuff that is both intelligent and inventive... (Rating: 4+++)

The Chevelles - Sun Bleached
Zip

Whoa. Every now and then I have a big stack of records to review, and one is head and shoulders above everything else. Ladies and gents, meet The Chevelles.
This two-guitar power pop quartet hails from Western Australia and blew every other record in the latest batch right out of the water. Or CD player, but you catch my drift. This is but a five-song, 19-minute record, but is so good, I'd buy it before many a full-length. There's bits of classic power pop like The Records, The Only Ones, and The Plimsouls in here. And on a slower second track, you can hear a bit of the more recent Scots band Teenage Fanclub. But mostly, The Chevelles sound like The Chevelles, so you need to get this. They even cover that most hideous of schlock songs, Air Supply's 1980 opus "Lost In Love," and turn it into a great song! Honest, I would not kid you about a feat so amazing. I don¹t care if you have to fly to Perth to buy this, do it now.

Zip Records (USA), 116 New Montgomery Street, Ste. 200, San Francisco, CA 94105, (415) 348-8426; ziprecords@earthlink.net; Chevelle's management: MONSTERR, PO Box 346, Mount Hawthorn, Western Australia, (61) 8 9444 902 083; rocketman@bigpond.com.au

Brian Kruger

THE CHEVELLES - C'MON EVERYBODY
Another West Australian outfit, this time a 4 piece, whose sound is fairly
well placed in the indie rock / pop field, the 3 songs presented on this
single certainly a good quality effort on the part of the band & one that
should no doubt make fans sit up & take notice in a big way.
Primarily revolving around the great guitars, especially on "Angelina
Jolie", the band's sound is energetic, but not what I'd call aggressive,
this easily seen on opener "C'mon Everybody". Closing out is "Sleeper",
which is a nicely paced track that runs about twice the length of the others
& it's the one that gives you the best idea of what the band are capable of.
The latest in a fairly long line of releases for this band.
C'mon Everybody is out now through Zip. hEARd rating 8.5/10

Heard magazine Online
www.heard.com.au

Review - Cmon Everybody
John mcPharlin i94bar.com
4.5/5

During the dark ages, the light of learning was kept burning in isolated
monasteries at the periphery of the fallen civilization. Perth seems to have
fulfilled a similar role for power pop, which has remained a fundamental
feature of the music scene there, while it has gone in and out favour
everywhere else. Several times in fact. Perhaps it has something to do with
Perth being the world's most distant city, in the sense that no other city
anywhere else on earth is so far from another, comparable city (and even
then it's only Adelaide...). Or perhaps it has something to do with Perth
being the home of Dom Mariani. Either way, a bubbling spring of crisp, clear
pop is forever flowing out of there.
Like Monty Python's parrot, I'm all shagged out after a long squawk (about
various power pop albums), but I do have just enough breath left in my body
to gush a little over the most recent singles from two well known Perth
power pop bands. When you think about it, singles are the perfect setting
for power pop, far more so than albums, although the "repeat" function on
most CD players does allow you to play a single track obsessively over and
over - for the truly infectious tune, there is no alternative except to give
yourself over to it continually until the fever finally breaks.
The Chevelles' "C'mon Everybody" is about as power pop as you can get - a
song about sneaking into a show by those colossi of Aussie power pop, the
Sunnyboys. Strangely the All Music Guide (www.allmusic.com) entry for power
pop doesn't acknowledge the Sunnyboys at all. It has them under "Aussie
Rock", throwing them in with a diverse crew that includes AC/DC, Beasts of
Bourbon, Birthday Party, Celibate Rifles, Died Pretty, Powderfinger, Radio
Birdman, Saints and Scientists (but not the Church, for whom there doesn't
seem to be an entry under any category)! Oh, and the Chevelles and Stems are
lumped in under "Aussie Rock" as well, though the Stems don't yet have a
biography, while the Chevelles cop a mere three lines.
In fact, the only Australians listed under power pop are Rick Springfield?!?
and the Hoodoo Gurus, who not only also appear under "Aussie Rock", but are
listed in the "Key Artists" sections of both (within the Hoodoo Gurus entry,
Dave Faulkner, Brad Shepherd and Mark Kingsmill all score highlighted hot
links and everybody who is or ever was a member gets an additional, separate
listing as well).
To add insult to injury, the band listing in the power pop category even
includes the Bay City Rollers!?! The Chevelles know better. "C'mon
Everybody" is pure power pop, a guitar driven gem; bubblier than the often
moody Sunnyboys it eulogizes, but without completely sacrificing the muscle
that always lay just beneath the skin of the best Sunnyboys' songs.
In this wondrous digital age, the term "single" is certainly a misnomer;
strictly speaking it always was, since even on vinyl you always got two
songs - one on each side - notwithstanding Phil Spector's desire that things
should be otherwise. So back in the days of vinyl, a single had two songs,
while an EP had four. Then everything got confused with seven inch records
that played at thirty three and a third and twelve inch records that played
at forty five... In this package from the Chevelles there are two other
songs, which makes it some kind of mutant mixed breed: TP (triple play)? SEP
(short EP)? NSEP (not so extended play)? Whatever.
I don't know how record companies come to select one track over another to
be the "A" side. Although it's much rarer in these days of prescribed
playlists and heavy rotation (sounds like something that should be going on
behind closed doors with the blinds drawn, doesn't it?) for DJs to do much
thinking for themselves, or even just turn a record over to hear what might
be on the other side (figuratively speaking), there have been cases in the
past where a "B" side has become a hit because DJs and audiences preferred
it to the record company's pick. Maybe selecting the "A" side isn't the
refined science that the majority of A&R wankers would have us believe.
To these ears, either of these other two songs has an equal claim to being
the featured track. The second song, Duane Smith's hymn to "Angelina Jolie",
is in the noble tradition of worshipful obsession for unattainable stars
(technically the Who's "Pictures Of Lily" fits into this category as well,
even if you couldn't have caught Lily at your local cinema; the Dead
Salesmen's "Ballad of Mary & Me/Wings Of Desire" is a worthy, though
slightly more borderline, case with its blurring of real life domestic drama
and fantasized invocation of actress Mary Stuart Masterston). The Chevelles
pull off their homage with just the right undertone of frivolity, making
their point while avoiding lengthy court proceedings and possibly a
restraining order.
Final song, the slightly thrashy "Sleeper", is an insistent grinder with
ringing guitar over a shredding rhythm and slightly nasal/adenoidal vocals.
It must be a killer live. Reading between the lines of the credits on the CD
sleeve, it looks like this one has already fallen through the cracks and
isn't going to be making an appearance on the forthcoming album, since it's
failed to score the same Californian mixing and mastering as the other two
tracks. Stuffed if I can comprehend why; it's a ripper.

InPress Magazine Wed 26th Sept 2001

"THE CHEVELLES - C'MON EVERYBODY (Zip Records / MGM)
Not the most original song in the world.  Not the most original sound in the world.  But the harmony enriched power pop charm and vivacity of this little ditty from this Perth quartet will quickly allow you to forgive such faults. And if the buzzing guitars and sunny vocals remind you a bit of Red Kross well ten points to you - Steve McDonald mixed the thing.  Discovering Aussie gems like this is the great thing about doing the singles column"  -

(MARTIN JONES)

"The bungalow is reverberating with pop noise harmony, paying tribute to Air
Supply and female car consumers from the 60's.  they have been Down Under
for six albums and have finally pulled up in the driveway of America with blistered hands, electric eyes, and amplified hearts, ready for your love. For Australian beach punks thrashing with inflatable flotation devices because they are young and euphoric".

I.S Giant Robot, Japan, May 2001

www.TheChevelles.com ~ info@TheChevelles.com