Gigolo Aunts - Minor Chords And Major Themes (1999)

Five years after their excellent album Flippin' Out, Gigolo Aunts returned with a new album for a new label: E Pluribus Unum, founded by Adam Duritz of Counting Crows. Unfortunately, Minor Chords and Major Themes is a bit of a letdown for fans who had waited years for a follow-up to one of the decade's best indie-pop albums. Although the absence of former lead guitarist Phil Hurley is a strong candidate if you're pointing fingers, the fact is that in the previous few years alternative power-pop had come a long way and raised the bar significantly. The album kicks off with an irresistible single ("C'Mon C'Mon"), but nothing else on the album comes close to matching it, including "The Big Lie" (with vocals by Duritz and Adam Schlesinger from Fountains of Wayne) and "You'd Better Get Yourself Together Baby" (originally featured on an episode of the WB network's alterna-teen series Felicity).~Minor Chords and Major Themes Review by John Bush