Review: The Crawpuppies "World's Much Bigger"

Creeping out of Hobort, IN, The Crawpuppies have completed an invasion of Chicago and now would like to get their infectious melodies into your town.

The Crawpuppies have an authentic sound that leads you to believe they put on a tremendously entertaining live show. Fortunately, that spirit is nicely captured on their latest CD, "World's Much Bigger". The touch of rasp and bite in the vocals works well whether its singing to a bar band rocker like the title track, or a bluesy ballad like "We", or a gentle and delicate number like "My Wife". Chad Clifford (vocals, guitar) is backed by a fine line up of talented musicians: Aaron "Hacksaw" Hedges (bass, vocals), Chris Karp (drums, vocals), and Mike Curtis (lead guitar, vocals). Yes, you read right - everyone in the band sings, and they've got some splendid harmonies to show for it.

The Crawpuppies tell modern day folk stories through their songs, which are best described as straight-up pop rock and powerpop. There are several deviations thrown in that keeps all the songs from sounding too much alike (for example, the bossa nova feel of "Here We Go Again" and the folksy "Some Divine"). Overall, there are lots of sunny melodies and upbeat treats on this 14-track opus to satisfy readers of this blog. Standouts for me include "Owe It All To You", "Mental Demons", "The Way", and "I Wanna Know". Recommended for fans of Venice, Hootie and the Blowfish, and Del Amitri.

iPOD-worthy: 2, 4, 5, 7, 10, 12

The Crawpuppies on MySpace. Official site. Get it.