Seneko

The Girls from Cedarhurst

(Torrez Music Group)

Opening with a noisy guitar and heavy beat off the title track, Seneko releases his 5th EP The Girls from Cedarhurst. It’s a great rockin’ opener, with a single chorus and a stark lead guitar line of the best Neil Young overdriven feedback style.

A slower “Motus est Magicae,” follows. Again we get the big stomping snare from Paul Scholten, and with a surely effected lead vocal, this is another proto-punk straight ahead mover that works perfectly, delivering its swirl and echoey loud guitar to spooky, slightly sad tune.

The guitars are clean and slippery on “Sugartime.” This might be my favorite Stan Olshefski’s lead vocal of the five here. He lays back in the beat of the verses, almost delivering a Lou Reed-like talking vocal, and the choruses are deliciously sickly sweet and teasing, mining a great pop 60’s-tradition. Great great stuff here, with Jon Conley adding just the right color with his electric guitar noodlings. Again, we get the sly backing vocals here from Luis Espaillat (who also plays an understated perfectly placed bass throughout).

Clean guitars again inform the ending pop-rocker “Higher Things.” This one showcases, what for me, is Conley’s best leading. Again, Espaillat is in there with his backing vocals, just for a touch.

The Girls from Cedarhurst, is solid stuff indeed from a tight little group.