Sally Crewe And the Sudden Moves

"Even before her auspicious 2003 debut full-length, Drive It Like You Stole It, Yorkshire's Sally Crewe proved herself to be a songwriting master of economy, combining a classicist's touch of pop history with a decidedly modern, lean approach to the Next Wave Of New Wave (after The Last Wave). And while 2005's Shortly After Take-Off was a slightly more expansive take on things, musically and lyrically, powerhouse album numero 3, Your Nearest Exit May Be Behind You has proven far superior to both, with Crewe proving she can cram twice as much information into each composition if merely allowed to stretch the length from two minutes flat to 2:30. Stylistically, she's bent but not broken a winning formula, and while Your Nearest Exit… is the most varied Sudden Moves effort to date, both rhythmically and lyrically, the bon mots flow very quickly and rarely overstay their welcome. Unlike, say, Turkey's occupation of Cyprus. Based in Austin, TX for the past four years, Sally's prowess onstage and in the studio is due in some portion to the most empathic and telepathic rhythm section she's recruited to date: drummer George Duron (Roky Erickson, Dumptruck, Jon Dee Graham) and bassist Matt Baab (The Distant Seconds). Though with all due respect to the capitol city's most propulsive rock trio, it's her songs and voice that set The Sudden Moves apart from the legion of merely competent hopefuls that litter the nation's indie circuit. Recorded throughout 2007 in separate sessions with Spoon's Jim Eno at Public Hi-Fi, (and subsequently with Jim Vollentine at Mob House), Crewe's latest collection of tunes, while unmistakably in her patented style, have never been as catchy, complex nor as anthemic. Nor as well recorded. Though sporadically touring with friends like Spoon, Mission of Burma and John Vanderslice, to name a handful, The Sudden Moves have until this point generated more goodwill than money. With the band making a hard fought transition into something approaching a full time-y endeavor, the trio are very poised to flip that equation around. (Ideally, they'd like to avoid the bad will). Like many other brilliant bands that are either 5 or 5 million minutes ahead of their time, Sally Crewe & The Sudden Moves have yet to approach household-word status (save for their own households). Said situation is likely to be sorted out shortly, but until then, you have the unique opportunity to tell your friends how terrific 'Magnet' and 'Sleepyhead' are a good few weeks before they've either been leaked or blogged-2-death.I don't wanna say such chances come along once in a lifetime - for all I know, you could be 300 years old - but songwriters this witty, confident and cool are awfully rare. Sally Crewe & The Sudden Moves toured the UK last month supporting The Wedding Present, a tour which not only garnered them a ton of new fans, but also marked the introduction of their new bass-player, power pop icon / Westerberg / Pollard sideman Tommy Keene. Gerard Cosloy Austin, TX, January 2009"
From the band's Facebook Page