LOWCUT (DENMARK)
There are good, bad and sensational powerpop bands. Portland’s The Ones belong in the last category. And simply put, there seems to be two schools of powerpop; the British Elvis Costello/Nick Lowe vs. US’s Real Kids/Paul Collins one, again The Ones belong among the latter. Lotsa gutsy rock’n’roll riffs recalling Creedence Clearwater Revival…or maybe even more The Golliwogs. Nothing groundbreaking, just maybe the best damn debut album I’ve heard this year so far!!!
www.myspace.com/theonespdx
If you dig: Real Kids, Paul Collins Beat, Hypstrz

Jens

DENIMZINE (SWEDEN)
I know that I should not compare it with MC5, but I just can’t let it be. The first song, “Yeah you make” smells much Detroit 1968. It’s not negative, but the record is really good. You can just not play the records so many times so the record will be destroyed, believe me, I have tried. “Dead on my feet”, Sweet little bombers”, “Oh oh”, “Sometimes on my mind”, you can’t just pick some best songs, when all the songs are so “fucking” good. Now when The Hellacopters have stopped playing, all the fans have to find favourites, and The Ones are a “safe card”. Say no more….
Score: 9 out of 10

CULTURE BUNKER DOT COM (Los Angeles, CA)
This debut full length release from The Ones kicks some serious ass. Equal parts rock and punk barrages explode from both barrels. Musically they draw from all sorts of styles, old school late 70’s punk, guitar based New Wave, a dash of roots rock, and other genres while placing their indelible style stamp on the final results. Whatever it is, it’s high energy rock n’ roll octane and I dig it. I haven’t been this blown away by a new band in quite a while. The material’s fun and lively with balls and teeth intact and after catching them live I’m proud to report that the recorded material translates seamlessly onto a stage. The Ones are easily one of the best bands working the Portland scene right now and rumors of a U.S. tour have begun to surface. Can’t recommend this one enough. 10 on a scale of 1-11.
- The Swede

NOW WAVE ZINE (York, PA)
Members of The Ones carry quite the musical pedigree (Weaklings, Poison Idea, Procrastinators, Religious War), but this Portland rock n' roll outfit is quickly building a rep that's all its own. Start with a singer who sounds like a cross between Rob Tyner and "Hot Love" era Robin Zander, mix in a high energy bar band attack, and cap it all off with some hook-heavy songcraft leaning towards powerpop. And BOOM! You've got The Ones. On its debut album, the group strips away the fancy stuff and just lets loose some seriously good rootsy rock n' roll. Mixing poppy punk n' roll with straight-up blue collar classic rock, The Ones make music that sounds the way a PBR tallboy tastes: basic, pure, and accessible to the average Joe. Whether you're a powerpop kid with a hard-on for Cheap Trick, a graybeard who brags about having seen Bob Seger at Cobo Hall back in '75, a swanked-out scenester with a Faces haircut, or a grizzled old punk rocker with a Tuff Darts pin on your leather jacket, you're a prime candidate for Ones fandom. Granted, a few songs here and there are a little generic-sounding. But when these guys hit it, they really hit it. Songs like "Yeah, You Make It", "Tunin' In Tokyo", and "Dead on My Feet" may be formula rockers, but they're just about the best formula rockers you'll hear all year. I'll give "Yeah, You Make It" one listen while I'm driving to work in the morning, and that damn chorus will be ringing in my head the rest of the day! The playing here is muscular, gritty, and totally from-the-gut. There's not a lot of wanking or showy musicianship happening on this record. Just simple, driving guitars; rock-solid drumming; and a singer who can really belt it. It all works because these tunes are so absolutely indefatigable. Like a car giving off heat minutes after the ignition's been turned off, these songs emit an energy that does not quickly dissipate. Couple that with this band's knack for catchy choruses, and you've got yourself a hell of a good debut album. Check it out.
Lord Rutledge
July 17, 2007

WILLAMETTE WEEK (Portland, OR)
I’ve heard the Ones described as both the best band in town and the worst. Which leads me to wonder: What could be so heinously awful or unbelievably awesome about a band whose music lies somewhere between Cheap Trick and Bruce Springsteen? Going into the Ones’ self-titled debut, I had yet to see the band live, and its first single (while only a taste) was a song I already knew. All of these factors led to a similar ambivalence. So why has this straightforward four-piece elicited such extreme reactions from Portland music fans? Well, the Ones’ first full-length actually makes some sense of these contradictory opinions. Though made up of seasoned rockers—members’ past bands include Poison Idea, Religious War, the Procrastinators and the Weaklings—the Ones do make a brand of retro rock that’s worthy of both praise and derision, often in the same song. Take “Sweet Little Bombers,” for instance: The alternately ringing and choppy guitar chords during the chorus lend themselves perfectly to Pete Townshend-style air-guitar windmills, and the female vocals on the “Don’t ya know/ Don’t ya know?!” verses remind me of Toody Cole’s off-key shouts on Dead Moon’s “It’s OK”—an all-time favorite. But “Sweet Little Bombers” misses perfection thanks to several cheeseball moments like the line, “All the sweet little bombers/ Got their eyes on the mambas.” Another lyric that’ll make you cringe is “My head, my head/ Feels just like lead” (from “My Arms”), as does the hokey, awkwardly played guitar shuffle in “Dead on My Feet.” Yet the sweet pre-chorus of “Dead” (“I remember your lips and a cigarette”) is brilliant, the kind that gets perpetually stuck in your head. So The Ones is a little flawed. But you know what? There are three factors that, for my money, redeem its downfalls: Vocalist Andrew Coursen has a unique and fantastic voice for rock ‘n’ roll that, in its earnestness and spirit, just begs to be yelled along with. Drummer Tim Slapper keeps it simple throughout, but he can really play when he needs to, as evidenced in his rare and stellar fills. And, finally, there simply could not be more energy packed into this record. Folks may love and hate the band in general, but anyone who doesn’t find him- or herself occasionally moving to this record just hates fun, if you ask me.
- Jason Simms

SLEAZEGRINDER (Boston, MA)
Portland dudes who play scruffy power pop, very much in the Dream Police-era Cheap Trick vein, with maybe a little pogo-ready Tuff Darts thrown in for extra kick. They sound like chicks dig ‘em. And that's the whole idea behind all this bullshit, isn't it?
- Sleazegrinder

ROCK-N-ROLL PURGATOEY
This is a power pop band from Portland proffering punkish mid tempo rock that really isn’t bad. They’ve got a very late 70’s sound that’s a little softer than I generally go for, but is well-executed and catchy. The more I listen, the more I like it.
- Ben

MAXIMUM ROCK AND ROLL
Super (almost annoyingly) catchy power pop tunes. So peppy, so poppy, so high-energy. I can just feel the uppers in the room. People still take them, right? The musicians are very tight and the singer has very distinctive voice. If you like THE PETS, I know you'll like this too.
(CK) July 2007

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RAZORCAKE
Egads, Meatloaf would be in trouble if he wasn’t already, you know, Meatloaf.
–Megan Pants