Before "Suggestions," I really didn’t get twee. I mean, there was the occasional release out of the UK about fluffy clouds and holding hands in a gentle rain that would have a certain something, but nothing that conked me over the head. Twee doesn’t conk, after all. But there are good songs and then there are “gateway” songs, and before you know it you’ve gone from sampling some Uncle Tupelo to huffing bluegrass 78’s in the back of a grimy bookstore. To wit, "Suggestions." It’s not even twee, for the most part. It cooks. It has a great rollicking chorus with a nice vocal harmony and a chorus chord progression that’s the same as “Feel Like Making Love”. And then they get you with the endearing stuff: the cute kid on the cover (this was back when it was fun and innocent to put a kid on your cover. Now bands put birds on their record covers. Does that qualify as a paradigm shift?), the drummer’s name was Phoebe Summersquash, the bassist Alex Kemp tumbles over all the words he’s jammed together, a bit high strung and slightly out of key, the acoustic guitar power jangle (I just made that term up!), and before you know it, you’re hooked on the half-time twee bridge about birds buried in the back yard. "Suggestions" made it onto every comp tape I made around this time.

And let me tell you, the chicks picked up on Small Factory quicker than a free copy of Chick Factor. Their shows were packed and joyous, at least at the dawn of the indie rock club scene (at least in Philly—as opposed to its predecessor, the college rock scene—yes, I think there’s a difference). Their albums were decent, quality efforts, each one a little bit less so than the previous, probably because they were increasingly same-y affairs. I don’t get nostalgic about the cds as much as this single, though. It’s catchier than anything else they ever did.

Necessary disclosure: After Small Factory’s demise in the mid 90’s, I went on a mini tour as a guitarist in Joey Sweeney’s band (he of the Barnaby’s and the Trouble with Sweeney), and Alex and Phoebe were the rhythm section (They were still a couple at that point). We rehearsed for a few days in Alex’s Providence loft, then went on a six show tour of the Northeast. It was a lot of fun and we managed to get pretty tight as a band by our last show in Philly. Man, though, did they have potty mouth.

-Andrew Chalfen