How’s that for the most misleading subject-header ever? (-:

In a review of a Canadian band called Universal Honey, Ken Barnes of USA Today writes:

Universal Honey, Vicious Circles (* * *) Fifty years or so after rock ’n’ roll’s birth, all mainstream pop-rock has become derivative: elements of the past recycled and recombined. The trick is to make it sound fresh, and this veteran Canadian male/female duo has the knack. There are echoes of ABBA, Fleetwood Mac, The Pretenders and even Black Sabbath (Circles’ riff is a pop-wrought Iron Man variation), but the closest comparison is the underrated Swedish duo Roxette. Honey’s Leslie Stanwyck and Johnny Sinclair share a flair for the glorious pop chorus, the insidious guitar figure and the deeply meaningless lyric that made Roxette’s pop confections such a joy ride in the ’90s. The Go Your Own Way-like Wasn’t It You, Unlucky and Take the Long Way are the kind of straightforward, melodic delights that have been in sadly short supply so far this century. —Ken Barnes

This may be the first positive thing I’ve seen written about Roxette by a US journalist outside of “Billboard”...

Link: http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews/2004-08-02-listen-up_x.htm