Reviewed by Barry Lyons

Consider a unique musical oddity of the current global marketplace: a band with roots in Florida decides to head north, settles in the New York area, starts building a reputation that yields an extensive news article in the New York Times, and the band becomes big - in Japan. Yes, you read that right. Not long ago Orange Park (the brothers Justin and Jeff Moore, cousin Jaye Moore and Chris Harvey) had the good fortune to be featured in a Japanese documentary TV series called New York Streets. Now, if Orange Park mania hasn't broken out (yet) in Japan, it has been noted elsewhere that "music fans from Tokyo to Kagoshima [have labeled] Orange Park as the 21st Century Beatles." That's quite a statement. Now that their full-length debut, Songs From the Unknown, which was initially released in Japan late last year, has now just been released in the States, what's the verdict? Easy. Barring any other late-year contenders, Songs From the Unknown wins the top prize in this year's power pop sweepstakes.

Imagine Beatles-inspired tunes channeled through the raucous but poppier side of Cheap Trick. That's pretty much what you get here. "Make Up Your Mind," the hook-filled opener that opens the CD, has a classic guitar riff and a catchy chorus that would make Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander drool. While Orange Park never lets you forget their primary influences, other influences abound. Is that a subtle Cars influence I hear in "Sorry" with its subtle use of synthesizer and its brief off-beat drum part? And then there's the intriguing "Miles Away," which, while keeping to the pop/punk genre, has a sudden great blast of chaos and distortion toward the end that suggests a lost song by Longwave.

Orange Park has this penchant for knocking out joyous, upbeat rockers that would make any aspiring power popster green with envy, yet the band reveals another side with their two mid-tempo and acoustic-flavored songs. Justin Moore has spoken elsewhere of a strong John Lennon influence on the band, yet "Unknown," with its pensive lyrics ("Bitter thoughts are always wasted, nothing here is for surs") and wistful melody, has a beautiful McCartney-like melancholy and sensibility not unlike "Things We Said Today." Likewise for "Times Slips Away" ("All I wanted from you slips away"), a nearly all-acoustic song with some gorgeous George Harrison-like counterpoint playing that closes the CD. Which reminds me: a few years ago, when Orange Park's rabid fans around the NewYork/New Jersey area could only make do with The Extended Play EP that had been making the rounds and giving them good notoriety, the band did an acoustic set at CBGB Gallery in downtown New York City. With virtually everything unplugged, the band highlighted their ability to sing tight, close harmonies and put their Beatles-inspired melodies on full, unadorned display. For Earvolution readers who live in the New York area, "Times Slips Away and "Unknown" will give Orange Park fans an excellent idea of what they missed that night.

But, never mind my minor quibble about the dearth of acoustic guitars on this CD. In fact, I'm not even close to complaining because I can't make my enthusiasm any plainer: Songs From The Unknown is one of the best records of 2005 - or 2004, if last year you happened to be living on the other side of the planet.