Style: pop rock, alt rock
Label: Martini Entertainment
Year: n/a
Home: California
Members: Danny Phillips (aka Danny Dean) ~ vocals/guitar
Chad Carrier ~ bass/b. vocals
Korky ~ drums/b. vocals
Additional ~ John Duffy ~ vocals/bass
Ethan James, Jerry Zaremba ~ n/a
Is there such a thing as fun bands anymore? The answer is, appropriately, yes. Though, I don't mean fun as in big hair & wild guitar playing ... I'm thinking something less pretentious & show off-ish ... nor do I mean fun as in Steel Panther over-the-top fun ... which is satirical fun. I mean, sing along pop rock that's a bit retro, a bit commercial, good for the radio whatever the station or audience, good for going down to the local pub to see once a month to drink some beers & do a little dancing to. Maybe a few covers in the set given a modern workout, maybe a hit in their repertoire that saw some MTV or heavy radio play once upon a time, so long ago that the band can barely remember it. A band whose drummer works in the local music store, having dumped college to make it with his band. & maybe even a reggae beat thrown in when the audience really gets wild. You know what I'm talking about? Think one of those little neighborhood bands that seem to be everywhere & play all the time & you wonder why you'd want to see them until you find yourself stumbling upon one of their shows & having a good time singing & dancing along ... & buying their homespun CD with the MTV hit on it. Easter was one of these bands, or at least they musically feel that way in retrospect. Their song "Manhattan Boy", even though their a California band but this might be a Manhattan Beach in reference, found some West Coast college radio play back in 1988 & some MTV play alongside "Lights Out." They do the obligatory cover in "Latest Flame", a wonderful Elvis tune by Doc Pomus more bands should cover. They've got the backing vocals happening to some fun lyrics about girls, boys & lands far away where there are more girls. The members have gone on to other numerous other bands of various styles & flavors, but still fondly remember those young naive Easter days where the music was a mix of Duran Duran sans the keyboards & retro surf echo-laced guitar solos ... & they called themselves punk & dressed the part, but the music is really far too tame & fun. This album brings together ten fun songs recorded in the late 80's before the band's break-up in 1990, plus four mixes of "Manhattan Boy" found on the original 12" single. Easter existed from 1984 to 1990 & their resume includes opening for Concrete Blonde, L.A. Guns, Wall of Voodoo & Sparks, & occasionally reuniting for a random show. Chad Carrier has since gone on to rockabilly/surf retro group Big Mess & the Celtic Shillahy Brothers, while Danny Phillips keeps the rockabilly/Cliff Richards guitar world alive & energized as the out of time Danny Dean & the Homewreckers. As for drummer Korky ... he's out there somewhere.
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