by Ljubinko Zivkovic (@zivljub)
At the time Sarah Records were at their most productive, somewhere in the late eighties up to mid-nineties, the popularity of their roster was limited to a staunch following and critical acclaim. Yet, even then, there was always a question whether that very pop, melody-oriented, sound will last or have a wider impact. As it turns out, both the impact and perseverance of that sound remains. After all, who is to turn down some great melody driven pop, particularly if the lyrics to the songs bring up something meaningful themselves.
While the sound of Jeanines, a duo of Alicia Jeanine and Jed Smith, goes deeper than just an emulation of the Sarah Records sound, with Don't Wait For A Sign, the duo latches on to that deep running vein of wistful, melodic pop. It’s the type of music where you have to say what you have to say in two minutes or so, sometimes even less.
Usually there is a nostalgic connection to the pop days of the sixties, something that can often make or break artists who take that route. Yet, Jeanine's excellent songwriting, and Smith's really wide knowledge of all sounds pop, bring that nostalgic element, but at the same time give it a modern update that lifts the songs like "Any Day Now" to something a bit more exceptional. That’s something that runs throughout the thirteen songs here, where songs like “Who’s In The Dark” and “Turn On The TV” exemplify all the qualities of Jeanine's song writing and lyrics and Smith's capability to give them the exact musical foil they need to work exactly as they should. Those qualities also enable the album as such to escape the traps of monotony and same-ishness some modern pop albums can be boggled with. An excellent listen.