Belly, Juliana Hatfield, PJ Harvey, Nirvana Meld for Deli CD of the Month - Mass Hysteria! Go Naked Hearts

The Deli has chosen Naked Hearts' Mass Hysteria as CD of the Month! That's a fabulous treat on top of a delicious album of '90s alt-rock we know will soon start grabbing more and more critic's ears. Just talking/writing about the album makes me want to put the CD on, turn it up loud and sing and jump around to release my angst (you can still have angst in your 30s) and sway to the idea of true and gritty romance. Is that weird?

The Deli blog had only great things to say about the champion record and its "soul mates!"

"This is one of those bands that make boys and girls fall in love (with each other and with their music, of course). The Naked Hearts are a not-entirely-bass-less rock duo (live, the bass exists as if by magic even if nobody is playing it, as we have personally witnessed!) which offer some extremely well crafted, melancholic, guitar indie-pop. Amy Cooper (guitar and vocals) and Noah Wheeler (drums and vocals) are obvious musical soul mates - their voices perfectly complement each other, their songwriting is well integrated, and their performances are flawlessly tight. The simplicity of their guitar pop formula and the clean rock production may be reminiscent of The Strokes, but the main ingredients of their music (songwriting and overall mood in particular) make this debut a completely different beast."

"Mass Hysteria exists in a musical limbo floating between Belly's hyper-melancholic psych pop ("Way I See You", "Dark Shade"), the more straightforward and up-beat guitar pop of Juliana Hatfield and PJ Harvey circa 1992 ("Boyfriend"), and the obvious Nirvana influences ("Call Me", "Mass Hysteria"). Of course, the Naked Hearts don't have the angst that characterized all grunge bands - but it's their generation that seems to lack that trait. Almost surprisingly, instead, the band uses that genre's musical signature and fills it with some sort of innocence that instills a refreshing quality.

Maybe this is the way the unavoidable, almost due by now grunge revival will sneak back to our ears? The record has at least two singles with noteworthy potential: "Like I Do" and "Mass Hysteria" - true pop gems that build up and open up with harmonized choruses exactly the way we like it - this is stuff that could also work on the dance floor. Is there anything better than dancing intensely to an emotional rocking song, after all?"

Naked Hearts Tour Dates

Saturday, May 22, 3rd Ward, Brooklyn, NY
Wednesday, May 26, The Glasslands, Brooklyn, NY
Wednesday, June 23, Cake Shop, New York, NY
Thursday, June 24, Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia PA

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The Nirvana of Naked Hearts

DOA's Bryan Sanchez once again delves deep into a new Green Light Go release. Sanchez reveals some interesting comparisons for the Naked Hearts' Mass Hysteria. We've heard the alternative and '90s rock labels of Mass Hysteria, which we love, but Sanchez really dug deep into each individual song on the album, discovering something new in each tale.

"In between the sound of slashing guitars – the kind that sound as if they are being shred and are shredding at the same time – is a sweetly decorated chorus that finds singer Noah Wheeler singing, “No one, no one, likes you, like I do.” It’s a rather stunning opening, almost re-calling The xx’s debut from last year, before it turns into a bass-driven groove that then finds singer Amy Cooper echoing, “Like I do…” into a soothing ending. Equally gripping and influentially focused, its ability to latch on is substantially deep. And all of this happens on the proper opening song of Naked Hearts’ debut, Hysteria; it perfectly positions the album and the listener, as an album that will reveal many more shapes and colors to come."

"On the album’s title track, Wheeler’s roots as a jazz bassist shine on what sounds like a unique combination of Radiohead and Nirvana. Here, Wheeler is singing to the support of a looping bass part that conveys the harder side of the latter but the former band shows up all over the guitar’s melody with a terrific 90s angular riff. This all makes a lot of sense with each member nodding to their 90s influence in stride; it especially comes through on “Way I See You,” with its surf-ready bass and nostalgic guitar line."
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