Adoration In Retreat, the debut full-length from Seattle band The Satellite
Program, weds potent songwriting to a crisp distillation of 3-minute power
pop, Americana atmospherics, and soulful guitar
arrangements;Singer/songwriter Mark Malone is literate and intelligent,
writing poetic and honest observations without a cliché in the bunch. I
liked the clever Beatles allusions in ŒInside Man.¹ I like the yearning and
the sympathetic observations and just the fact that Malone writes exactly
what he feels without falling into the smarmy or pseudo-intellectual traps
that a lot of otherwise-smart songwriters fall into.
I like the raw feel. Most of the album was recorded in a small basement with
lots of packing blankets and other makeshift studio gear, and it sounds like
it in the best possible way. There¹s a very rebellious indie spirit in this
music that I really connect with. It feels like a small, out-of-the-way
Seattle bar on a rainy day. We get smooth minor chords and some ballads that
are very vintage Bowie. Another plus is Malone¹s singing he has a quirky,
cool voice that fits this style. The picture that comes together is of
jangly alt rock/pop, very melodic, with solid guitar work by Chris Ferreira
and an earnest approach to songwritingŠ² -- Indie-music.com. These 13
songs track a closely observed journey with wry bemusement and unadorned
longing. Behind the deceptively cheery melodicism of cuts like ³Keep Me
Around² and ³Inside Man² lay a worldly reserve that turns explicit in
³Western Electric² and ³Protection.² The mood swings from the misty
³Rollaway,² riding a Northern railway that fades to a dark, lonely horizon,
to the boisterous Americana bliss of ³Coin-Op Proxy.² The production,
unabashedly guitar-happy throughout, ranges from the arena-struck ³Red Roses
In the Snow² to the intimate living room weeper ³Unlisted.² Very Highly
Recommended!
 Laugh When You Tell Me - mp3
Inside Man - mp3
Wipeout By Decree - mp3
Red Roses In The Snow - mp3
Keep Me Around - mp3 | 
