BAND OVER BOSTON What can be said about Sidewalk Driver that hasn’t been already? They’re pop royalty, but they don’t preach or issue decrees – they lead by example. Tight, chugging guitars, perfectly-placed harmonies, and an impeccable rhythm section set the stage for Tad’s skipping over, weaving through, and soaring high above.- Cullen Corley NOT LAME April, 2010 "For All the Boys and Girls" INSANELY AWESOME! Sidewalk Driver's "For All The Boys & Girls" is an album that you listen to and if you do not end up in a more happy, joy induced state, you may need medication to pull you out of your funk. With choruses of handclaps, armies of singalong melodies and a band bonhomie that makes the band your new band best friends. There is no way around it: Sidewalk Driver are a power pop band with a decidedly 70s glitter pop twist who committed to enhancing your life`s enjoyment, like a warm breeze blowing over the listener. After 4 listens the last few weeks, it has been added to my Top 10 list for the year, so far and the competition to displace it from this halfway-point status better be ready to deliver the goods to top this passionate achievement. Strains of "Ziggy"-era Bowie, late 70s new wavey pop combine to a modern rock strain that fans of Locksley and The Killers anthemically float in and out this highly textured music. All of it infused with endelible melodies, warm harmonies and the production values that picky pop fans will appreciate.-by Bruce Brodeen THE METRO - BOSTON December 23, 2009 "For All the Boys and Girls" Sidewalk Driver's long-awaited debut LP perfectly channels their energetic live performances into a smartly crafted, deftly produced party platter. Bursting with flavors of glam rock and hook-filled pop that owe to the Cars, Elton John and the Pixies, there isn't a single skippable track on it.-by Selene Angier WEEKLY DIG December 10, 2009 Defend Yourself: Sidewalk Driver Sequins, capes, fake eyelashes: Tad McKitterick busts out these big guns, in addition to his octave-leaping pipes, as frontman for Sidewalk Driver. Their showmanship and epic balladry make them one of most legitimate glam acts in Boston. We caught up with Tad before he got his eyelids did.-by Hilary Hughes (Read the full interview here) BOSTON BAND CRUSH October 1, 2009 Sidewalk Driver CD Release! Four years is a VERY long time to have a band together and not have put out a CD (in recent times at least). And if you've witnessed Sidewalk Driver's live show (complete with costume changes, glitter, smoke machines, fake eyelashes and MORE) you've wanted to take some SD home with you. So it was with great anticipation and total dread that I approached listening to our press copy of their DEBUT CD, For All the Boys & Girls. Dread, because I was worried that this would not live up to the live renditions of the songs that I often find myself humming days after seeing a show. After a week of the new record being on repeat at HQ I can say that it is totally awesome. The songs, hooks, and performances are incredibly strong and this debut will make a big splash.-by Sophia Cacciola BOSTON BAND CRUSH: C.D. ON SONGS August 28, 2009 Song Review of "Dancing with Her Friends" A good chorus can and will get you everywhere. The chorus to Sidewalk Driver's "Dancing With Her Friends" might get them free admittance to Disney World, the upcoming Winter Classic and the Oval Office all at once.-by C.D. Di Guardia PLAYGROUND BOSTON July 30, 2009 Provincetown Rocks - The Festival: Day 4 Recap [...] I think they might have had the most memorable set of the entire festival... words alone cannot possibly describe this spectacle... the band pulled off a jaw-dropping performance. They were tight, they were talented, and I loved hearing guitarist Jared Egan lay down some ridiculous solos as Tad McKitterick’s vocals soared, displaying his incredibly vast range.-by Bryan Donoghue (Read the full review here) BOSTON BAND CRUSH May 10, 2009 Sidewalk Driver are always an absolute pleasure to witness. They rock hard by pulling a lot of '70s arena rock in, packaging it with some glam, wrapping the whole thing in awesome and shooting it back out at the audience with glitter cannons and smoke machines. They are one of the best live bands in Boston and I look forward VERY much to the release of their debut album later this year.-by Michael Epstein BOSTON HERALD August 22, 2008 The band: Tad McKitterick (voice), Kate Murdoch (guitar, voice), Jared Egan (guitar), Dan Sullivan (bass), A.J. Locke (drums)-Story by Kerry Purcell (For the record: Dan's from Boston, not Miami; A.J. isn't a tour guide; Alex "Gumball" Garrido was a founding member of the band; and, finally, FATBAG is an acronym... But the part about Tad being really lazy is pretty accurate.) BOSTON GLOBE December 11, 2007 On stage, punk-y, Britpopish quartet Sidewalk Driver played energetically. Flamboyant singer Tad McKitterick's shaved head was sprayed metallic silver and his eyes painted with crimson shadow and thick black eyeliner. [...]-Story by Linda Laban (For the record, we are neither "punk-y", "Britpopish", nor a "quartet"...) THE PHOENIX December 10, 2007 Sidewalk Driver set the tone well enough, with strutting frontman Tad McKitterick in a shimmery ensemble that included a lavish silk kimono. Their rowdy but earnest songs were anchored by a crunching rhythm; you got the idea that, in a bigger quarters, they might be able to incite a semblance of a ballroom blitz. [...]-Story by Liza Weisstuch BOSTON HERALD David BOO-wie!: Rock bands play dress-up for Halloween Wednesday, October 31, 2007 Rock ’n’ roll and Halloween make a fabulous pairing. Maybe it’s the silver platform moon boots. Maybe it’s the feather boas.-Story by By Jed Gottlieb PERFORMER MAG: NORTHEAST Show of the Month Sidewalk Driver / The Great Bandini / Okay Thursday / Murder Capitol Of The World T.T. The Bear’s, Cambridge, MA July 14, 2007 If The Great Bandini sounds like a magician’s name, then Tad McKitterick from headliner Sidewalk Driver was the lovely assistant — a large man in full showgirl costume complete with knee-high sparkling boots and purple plumage adorning his head. Even though he looked like a Moulin Rouge showgirl, McKitterick never had to strain or stretch to hit seemingly out-of-range notes in Sidewalk Driver’s sparkly glam throwbacks. The rest of the band dressed normally so the effect was nearly a sensory overload — it was difficult to pay attention to what the large man in drag was singing while trying to compute the fact that a large man in drag was, in fact, fronting this band. Each member of Sidewalk Driver could play well, and the transitions between songs faded into one another smoothly. The night ended in theatrics and glitter, leaving all satisfied.-Review by C.D. Di Guardia THE METRO - BOSTON Weekend, December 30, 2005-January 2, 2006 -Story by Selene Angier (For the record, Kate's reality show guilty pleasure is Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, not the regular, face-altering one. ew.) THE NOISE Sidewalk Driver EP - 5 songs, 2005 I'd like to get this out of the way immediately: I have never been as curious to check out a band upon looking at their cover art as I was here. More importantly, this EP will always stand out in my CD collection due to the fact that it's a round metal case with a giant bolt sticking out. Although I'm gimmick precautious, I was happy to dive into the warm pop rock of the first track, "Tornado." That must be a fun word to repeatedly scream at the top of your lungs; it's certainly fun to hear. I'd say the stand out track is certainly "Jenny Jenny," a mini pop opera about a lesbian, where the band effortlessly juggles Rick Springfield, Elvis Costello, and Ladytron in about three minutes. It may be the greatest expression of love I've ever heard, but listeners beware: the coda will no doubt get stuck in your head and you will be walking around singing "I'll cut it off for you." And you thought rock was dead...-Review by Fillmore Slim |
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