Artist: Cocktail Slippers

Title: St. Valentine’s Day Massacre

Publication: Metromix New Jersey

Date: February 20, 2009

http://jerseyshore.metromix.com/music/blog_post/the-cocktail-slippers-release/974091/content

Listen up all you hip cats: E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt has penned a new single that's so hot, you'd never believe it's coming at you directly from Norway.

The Cocktail Slippers, a rocking all-female quartet with the good fortune to find themselves on Van Zandt's Wicked Cool label, released the Little Steven-penned, produced and arranged tune "St. Valentine's Massacre" as a digital double A-side single on Feb. 10 and as a seven-inch vinyl single this past Tuesday (Feb. 17).

On both releases, the song was paired with another Van Zandt original, "Heard You Got a Thing For Me," and the single should serve as a primer for the full "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" LP, set to hit stores on April 28.

And if the title track and lead-off single is any indication, this album is going to be a winner. After an intro that sounds like it's on loan from Bruce Springtseen's "Two Hearts" (often a live showcase for Van Zandt during E Street shows) swirls of classic organ kick in and the sound is in full classic girl group mode. By the time lead singer and keyboardist Lisa Farfisa delivered the opening lyric ("Oh it's nice that I can trust you with my secrets") I was sold.

What follows are enough hand claps, backup harmonies and classic pop flourishes to make any retro-inclined listener forget that the last couple of decades even happened, and when Farfisa asks "Who'll be the last lover standing come St. Valentine's Day?" you'll want to volunteer your services.

The B-side selection, "Heard You Got a Thing for Me," isn't as instantly memorable, but it its sweet with a hint of menace. The song also has a cool and hypnotic bottom-heavy sound anchored by a bass line courtesy of bassist Sugar Cane.

The hip sound of the tracks is also enhanced by the knowledge that these tunes were recorded in a bomb shelter in Oslo, Norway that had been converted into a recording studio, and Van Zandt flew there to work with the band.

Discussing working with Van Zandt in the studio, Cane said in a press release, "He pushed himself as well as us to our limits during recording and made us work harder and better than ever before. He is a great mentor and we are very fortunate to benefit from his talent and experience."

Not surprisingly, Van Zandt has high hopes for his latest band of protégés, stating in the same press release, "I'm seeing a coming all-girl trend and it will be led by the Cocktail Slippers. They are the perfect role models for a new generation. They're talented, they understand Rock ‘n' Roll is a craft and they work hard at it, and they never stop wanting to learn and improve. They've got soul and they're the best."

The Cocktail Slippers will be rocking our side of the Atlantic with a show on March 12 at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City, and you can check out "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" on the band's MySpace page.

Posted by Alex Biese