The Secret History - "The World That Never Was" (8.2 out of 10)

What a joy! What a treat! This is the first album from The Secret History - fronted by Bowies' long-time guitarist Mick Ronson's daughter Lisa. And these kids know what they are doing and know what music is supposed to be, coming right at you with great melodies, a great sound, and great confidence to boot! None of that moping indie crap here! It's sort of a retro-sound - something of the 60's-80's mixed together...sort of like if The Sundays bred with Rilo Kiley and The New Pornographers, with Belle and Sebastian as a 2nd cousin somewhere down the line. And I think I hear some Cars and Pretenders in here as well. I don't know who their producer is, but give them an A+ also! There is no question that this is the best cd I have heard so far this year, discounting Joanna Newsom's release because that one is completely supernatural and beyond the work of a mere mortal. Listening to The Secret History almost makes up for all the dregs that I have to sift through every week. Great, great stuff.