Babysue.com LMNOP.com August 2003
The
Innocence Mission - Befriended
(CD, Badman, Folk/pop)
Cool, thoughtful, soft, and wonderfully innocent folky pop. Members of The
Innocence Mission first played together in a Catholic school production of Godspell.
Since that time this band has transformed into highly original unit. The players
are Karen Peris (guitars, piano, organ, vocals), her husband Don Peris
(guitars, drums, vocals), and Mike Bitts (bass). Karen writes most of the
material and handles most lead vocals. Her voice is extraordinarily unaffected
and genuine. The tunes on Befriended are personal and well-written. The
ten cuts on this album sound like virtual classics. The band never overplays or
buries their music underneath overdubs. Instead, they keep their music simple,
direct, and to-the-point. This will easily be one of the best soft pop albums to
be released this year. Ultra-satisfying cuts include "Tomorrow on the
Runway," "When Mac Was Swimming," "No Storms Come," and
"Look for Me as You Go By." Absolutely wonderful. (Rating: 5+++)
