Here's to Your Black & Blue Heart
Mike St. Jude & the Valentines

A friend loaned me Mike St. Jude & The Valentines debut Fallout Patterns of the Hoodshot Blues shortly after it came out in 2006. With one spin, I decided that this would be a band that went completely underappreciated. The group's sophomore effort Here's to Your Black & Blue Heart only serves to reinforce said opinion of Lakewood resident St. Jude and his quintet. Delivering from a wide swath of influences -- ranging from soul, folk, "easy rock" and new wave, to the garage-y sounds of Badfinger and Love -- St. Jude and company are squarely positioned in somewhere between 1967 and 1977 at any given time.

It's luverly summertime tunage, filled with great jangle, smart hooks and harmonies. If you don't feel completely blissed out from the first moments of the Brian Wilson-esque "Tongue Tied," the R.E.M.-like "Sleepwalking," the countrified Dylan flair of "Sweet on the Run" or the Apple Records flavors of "Hey Mary Anne," you're probably not their cup of tea. This band goes positively minimal, Positively 4th Street and with very positive results. St. Jude and mates Mike Allan (bass), Alex Pluto Kosmidis (keyboards, vocals), Frank Miller (drums) and Steve Simantiris (guitars) deliver classic-sounding rock without cliche or pretense. It's perfect psychedelic soul-garage pop-rock and you'd be hard-pressed to find a better soundtrack to your summer.

Mike St. Jude & the Valentines perform Saturday, July 25 at 9PM at The Happy Dog, 5801 Detroit Ave., with special guests Paper Airplanes (Columbus), Chief Bromide and Alan Madej. Hear samples and learn more about the band at http://www.MySpace.com/MikeStJude.

From Cool Cleveland Managing Editor Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com

Wanna get reviewed? Send your band's CD (less than 1 year old) to: Cool Cleveland, 14837 Detroit Avenue, #105, Lakewood, OH 44107

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