Critic's Review
Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
Born in Montreal, 1979, New York folk rocker Mat Treiber, married to chanteuse Roxanne Fontana, has released this five-song EP on the same label as his wife (Etoile Records). Produced by Benji King, who played keyboards on Fontana's splendid debut, Love Is Blue, this collection has a lot in common with fellow New Yorker Matt Turk. Concise pop songs like "She's Got It Good" are radio-friendly, crisp productions. No-nonsense performances and no-pretension vocals bring tunes like "Sinking Fast" back to your consciousness after you've walked away from the disc. Treiber's voice, particularly on this cut, is almost a clone of Soft Cell's vocal sound on "Tainted Love," although this song is more basic rock than that techno hit. The fade has great interaction between the guitar, keys, and drums. Treiber makes a chameleon change with his reading of "Victoria the Queen," sounding like a British balladeer. "Willie Francis" is even more stark and different from the previous three titles, a bluesy Robert Johnson-ish number based on a real-life execution. The title track has the band kicking in again, as with the first track, a catchy pop lyric with brash instrumentation. "Love with you ain't a walk in the park" he projects over the clean guitar riff. A fun record. Veterans like Grass Roots singer Rob Grill should tune in to this breed of singer/songwriter for a little inspiration. Maybe it's the fact that they're not thinking about the record execs that makes this and the Matt Turk CD so refreshing.
