Brian Tighe: Lead Vocals, Guitar, Keys
Jeff Kearns: Lead Guitar
Aaron Lundholm: Bass
Chadwick Nelson: Drums, Percussion
Marcel Galang: Hammond Organ, Piano, Rhodes
Todd Newman: Lead Guitar

From their beginnings as a trio formed in 1990 at art school to a sextet boasting accomplished albums and acclaim from music circles around the country, the Hang Ups have elevated their skills and creative vision to deliver some of the most appealing guitar-pop music fused with a psych-folk edge heard this side of the Village Green.

From the infectious chords that introduce the opening track on the band's latest record, The Hang Ups, to the simple, reassuring strum of its closing number, the Hang Ups grab any and all lonely hearts club members by the hand and launch full speed into the interstellar heights and murky depths of a world full of wonder and ugliness, desire and rejection, fearfulness and hope. The Hang Ups, the band's fourth record is part optimist manifesto, part challenge to inject beauty into the mundane state of the modern love song.

There's the urgency and tentativeness of a new love in the guitar-pop gem "Its All True"; the way "One of These Days" takes the spirit of a Lovin' Spoonful song to make a humorous ode to the perennial slacker; the whimsical catchiness of "Fool" and its theatrical look at someone who's been burned by love too many times but still desires to play the game; the majestic symphony of rocket-engine-like guitars on "Annie Walks" that mark a slow-motion reawakening from a perfect dream world; or the honest pop perfection of "Wildflowers," with its upbeat piano riff that chugs along nicely to accompany some of the most heartfelt and optimistic lyrics about being aware of life's chaos while gravitating toward its beauty.

Over thirteen tracks, The Hang Ups is an album that evokes a realm where warm, melodic, and melancholic sounds tenderly reign supreme, embodying a sense of journey to exotic and varied locations. Sonically colorful with intelligent and contemplative lyrics to match, the Hang Ups' music has charmed the likes of Soul Asylum's Dave Pirner (who selected their song "Jump Start" to be included in Kevin Smith's film Chasing Amy), producers Don Dixon and Mitch Easter (who teamed up again to work on the band's third album, Second Story), and Semisonic (whose front man, Dan Wilson, and producer, Brad Kern, added their production skills to The Hang Ups). Now back with their strongest album to date, it's no wonder that some of the Hang Ups' biggest fansãPete Yorn and Rami Jaffee of the Wallflowersãare behind the record label the band now calls home, Trampoline Records.

What is perhaps most intriguing about the Hang Ups is that you'd swear you'd heard their music in a dream of a colorful, glorious past. That's how good they are at crafting uniquely arranged tunes that sound warm, relevant, and terribly pleasing to the ear. And with introspective ruminations on subjects that perplex the sensitive soul in principal songwriter/lead vocalist Brian Tighe, it all comes together quite nicely in songs that aim to captivate ever so sweetly.

-Kristian Vieru