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All Music Guide

Mike Shupp
This Time
Private Mind (mikeshupp.com)

This album is teeming with catchy melodies and sweet pop/rock arrangements.  From the opening notes of the title track or the shimmering “All Over Town,” Mike Shupp resembles a cross between Tom Petty and Michael Stipe as drummer Chris Zogby propels the music forward.  Another asset is how the musician eliminates any needless guitar solos or sonic slack.  “I’m having trouble knowing lately who I am,” Shupp sings on “Came to This,” but given his penchant for tight arrangements that teeter toward lo-fi alternative rock, he knows what he wants musically.  A track such as “Another Life” has been done literally thousands of times, but Shupp gives it a certain warmth courtesy of his delivery and better than average lyrics.  Fans of the Replacements All Shook Down album should find comfort in much of the record, especially the adorable twang emanating from “Set Me Free.”  “Good Again” is probably the best track simply because it offers up a slightly looser feel and some simplistic Keith Richards riffs.  The exception to the album is the somber and melancholic groove on “Forgiven,” a tune that takes a while to find its footing.  But “She’ll Come Around” steers the record back on track.  Although This Time has one or two slight drawbacks, the album is extremely well done.

— Jason MacNeil ( March 2003 )
Copyright © 2003 All Music Guide
All rights reserved.

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Miles of Music

Mike Shupp
This Time
Private Mind (mikeshupp.com)

From just outside Washington, DC Mike Shupp found some success as a member of local phenom Big Bang Theory during the early ’90s.  Shupp’s third solo disc finds him awash with his jangly and power-pop sensibilities still intact.  His sound brings to mind the likes of Matthew Sweet having been weaned on a diet of ’80s music from Athens.  Something of a sophisticated heartland roots-pop.  Says Larry O. Dean of Amplifier Magazine “The ability to come across as approachable, coupled with winning songs and smart, uncluttered arrangements, makes This Time a must-have…” (Private Mind Records) “The former Big Bang Theory guitarist has just released his third solo album, This Time, and it’s a killer.  Shupp is a renaissance performer, cut from the Marshall Crenshaw/Tommy Keene cloth; his songwriting is unpretentious and straightforward, almost transparent (that’s a good thing) and devoid of cliches… Vocally, Shupp brings to mind the underrated Darden Smith, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe (minus his huffing and puffing) and Windbreaker Tim Lee – gruff but warm pipes, plaintive and honest sounding; when he sings, you listen and are transported.” – Larry O. Dean, Amplifier Magazine. (Private Mind)

— Miles of Music
( February 28th, 2003 )
Copyright © 2003 Miles of Music  All rights reserved.

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Fufkin.com

Mike Shupp
This Time (Private Mind)

I have each of D.C. area artist Mike Shupp’s previous releases, but his latest disc—This Time—is far and away his best album yet.  Fans of the Pistoleros will feel right at home with Shupp’s melodic pop/rock tunes.  Radio-friendly tunes are abundant—you’ll find yourself humming along to “Came To This,” “Set Me Free,” “Ordinary Way” and “All Over Town.”  Discover Mike at www.mikeshupp.com

— Eric Sorensen
( December, 2002 )
Copyright © 2002 Fufkin.com All rights reserved.

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Music Monthly

Mike Shupp delivers the goods with This Time. …see Guadalcanal Diary, early REM, The Pixies, The Church, The Smithereens, The Bodeans… [Shupp] fits right in… This album is a professional collection of work. Do not be surprised if you end up recognizing his name down the road…

— Laurin Wollan
Music Monthly
January, 2003

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Amplifier Magazine

Amplifier Magazine ISSUE 34 · Jan-Feb 2003
ISSUE 34
Jan-Feb 2003

ISSUE 34 · Jan-Feb 2003

Mike Shupp
This Time
Private Mind (mikeshupp.com)

Toothsome: that’s Shupp’s stuff.  The former Big Bang Theory guitarist has just released his third solo album, This Time, and it’s a killer.  Shupp is a renaissance performer, cut from the Marshall Crenshaw/Tommy Keene cloth; his songwriting is unpretentious and straightforward, almost transparent (that’s a good thing) and devoid of clichés, if lyrically simplistic.  His hooks come easy, are unforced and populate each tune—from the title track, with its declarative power chord opening, to “Another Life,” “Set Me Free” (those shimmery acoustics in the intro are something else too), “Ordinary Way” and “She’ll Come Around” (one of the few numbers here with a guitar solo).  Glistening guitar lines caress melodic bass signatures; drums, cleanly and naturally recorded, are free of studio muck-up, adding to a live-in-the-rec-room feel.  Vocally, Shupp brings to mind the underrated Darden Smith, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe (minus his huffing and puffing) and Windbreaker Tim Lee—gruff but warm pipes, plaintive and honest sounding; when he sings, you listen and are transported.  The ability to come across as approachable, coupled with winning songs and smart, uncluttered arrangements, makes This Time a must-have.

— Larry O. Dean
( Jan-Feb 2003 )
Copyright © 2003 Amplifier Magazine  All rights reserved.

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Fufkin.com

Mike Bennett
Capsule Reviews:
December, 2002
Mike Shupp This Time (Private Mind)

The third installment of Mike Shupp’s continuing efforts on behalf of classic guitar pop songwriting. Let me throw out some names — Marshall Crenshaw, The Plimsouls, Firetown/Spooner, The Sighs — this album holds its own with those top flight acts. There’s no strong deviation in style from Shupp’s last album, which was swell. This is just a little bit better in every area — the songs are a bit sharper, the playing equals the songs and Shupp really engages his compositions with feeling. His guitar work is subtly terrific — listen to the lead guitar fills that he tucks into the verses of “Ordinary Way” that add color and texture. Shupp’s songs all share a smoldering drive that gives them a resonant appeal. Songs like “She’ll Come Around” and the title track push all the right jangly pop buttons, with Shupp folding in little melodic surprises amongst the bouncy guitar riffs. Again, Shupp plays everything but the drums, letting Chris Zogby repeat his skins work. To his considerable credit, you wouldn’t notice this fact without scanning the liner notes. This is an album that demands to be played loudly at home, but would also help you get your work done faster on your office computer. This sounds quite good now and will age quite well.

Mike Bennett
( 12/07/2002 )
Copyright © 2002 Fufkin.com  All rights reserved.

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Not Lame

The third and best record from Shupp, his previous two records are faves here but here is buzzing and crunchy guitars, soaring vocal harmonies and hooks in the vein of Matthew Sweet or Gin Blossoms are better honed and the performances more engagingly captured.  Refrains of Spooner and Tommy Keene are in focus here, too.  As with all his releases, the vocals are extremely strong and the production rich and thick.

Mike Shupp “This Time”

— Bruce Brodeen
Not Lame
October 29th, 2002

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The Journal

LOCAL MUSIC
By LOU KING
Special to The Journal

[M]ike Shupp, “The Key.” Savvy pop from a guy with great songwriting and singing chops. To record the guitar-heavy “The Key,” Shupp made a pilgrimage to Zion, Il, to record with Jeff Murphy, a member of the legendary Shoes. Something good must have rubbed off.

Lou King
( 12/28/2001 )