The bouncy, college rock jangle that
Letters to Cleo serves up on their final recording,
Sister, won't surprise many listeners familiar with the band. By 1998 the cutesy warble of alterna-girl rockers had just about gone completely out of fashion and this group might have been feeling a bit of a backlash because of it. They had lost their major-label deal after two Giant/Revolution releases went almost entirely unnoticed, and the promising days of
Aurora Gory Alice must have seemed like ancient history. None of this affected
Letters to Cleo's sound and songwriting approach.
Sister is straight pop/rock from the first measure of "I See" to the last beat of
Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" -- a last-chance note of recognition, perhaps, to the brand of '70s FM rock that first influenced so many gen-x musicians.
Letters to Cleo had run their musical course for sure, and
Sister is a fitting finale to the Boston alt-rock outfit's sturdy, but unremarkable career.