Review Text
'O My Stars' is the second record from Chicago-based indie-pop singer/songwriter, Adam McLaughlin (as The Weightlifters). It's another ambitious effort - a self-released, self-produced, 7-song EP on which Adam sings and plays pretty much everything. The music is melodic and moody, personal and powerful, with a hint of 60s tunefulness and a touch of 70s atmosphere, though unmistakably modern. Biography: The truth is that there are no Weightlifters to speak of. 'The Weightlifters' is the brainchild of Adam McLaughlin, a Philadelphia-area transplant living in the city of Chicago. Adam plays most of the instruments on O My Stars, getting help once again from drummer extraordinaire, Ron Wikso, as well as from his wife Carol, who adds the cowbell to her resume of percussive conquests. A bit of history... Adam is the former guitarist for the Philly power-pop band, Idle Wilds, which was signed to the Ardent record label by Big Star drummer Jody Stephens in the mid 90s. In addition to releasing a couple full-length records, Idle Wilds notably appeared on the well-received 'Poptopia!: Power Pop Classics Of The '90's' compilation with such esteemed bands as Jellyfish, The Posies, and Matthew Sweet, as well as on the recently-released Big Star tribute album, 'Small World', with Wilco, Teenage Fanclub and others. Since then?... After about a decade hiatus from any public displays of music-making, Adam built a small studio to record songs he'd been working on. That led to the 2007 release of the first Weightlifters record, 'Last of the Sunday Drivers'. Encouraged by the success of this self-produced, independently-released EP, Adam took to his studio once again to invent something even better.
