Artist bio

Letters To Cleo burst into one-hit-wonderdom when the tongue-twister-chorused "Here And Now" plopped off the "Melrose Place" soundtrack and onto MTV. The song was taken from the Boston quintet's de jure debut Aurora Gory Alice and actually did give a valid impression of the group's sound: uptempo power pop with flair and the distinctive cracked-honey vocals of Kay Hanley.

The group went on to release two more full albums in its short career: Wholesale Meats And Fish, which took on more of a guitar-heavy, acid-tinged sound than its predecessor, and Go!, which (though recorded without skinsman Stacy Jones, who left to try his hand in Veruca Salt) re-energized the group's sound.

Sister followed in 1998, collecting some covers and early versions of previously released songs alongside a handful of originals, but the group was losing steam. Hanley married guitarist Michael Eisenstein and soon began work on a solo album, to be released in 2002. And the music lived on happily ever after.

Albums by this artist

Go! (1997)

Wholesale Meats And Fish (1995)

Aurora Gory Alice (1993)

Letters To Cleo

Aurora Gory Alice

---

» TROY CARPENTER | CO-DIRECTOR

Letters To Cleo Aurora Gory Alice Cherry Disc, 1993 RiYL: Juliana Hatfield, Aimee Mann, Velo-Deluxe

Spirited and warm pop songs populate the full-length debut of Letters To Cleo.

Like fellow Bostonian Juliana Hatfield, Letters pull off simple, cute pop hooks with a powerful rock band approach. On Aurora Gory Alice, however, restraint is the name of the game, and it comes off as a somewhat flawed, but ultimately endearing record.

Crooner Kay Hanley dextrously adapts her versatile vocals to fit the band's varying dynamics. Letters' debut single, "I See," is reprised for the album, but Aurora's big sales draw ended up being the speedy chorus of "Here And Now," a hit off the "Melrose Place" soundtrack a year after the record's release.

Other notable tunes include the curious "From Under The Dust" and acoustic closer "Step Back."

TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.