Was It Something I Said? by Eytan Mirsky

SE (Swedish entertainment magazine)

POPISM (Yugoslavian webzine)

ROOTSTOWN MUSIC MAGAZINE (Belgian magazine)

ZUGER PRESSE (Swiss newspaper)

MUSICMISFITS.COM (webzine)

HIGH BIAS (webzine)

FROM "NEW YORK NEWSDAY"

The Artist: Eytan Mirsky

The Disc: "Was It Something I Said?"

Performance: A

Songwriting: A+

Sound Quality: A

Perhaps the best compliment a songwriter can receive is that his or her tunes remain stuck in a listener's skull days after listening. Eytan Mirsky deserves such praise: A few spins of "Was It Something I Said?" will leave you humming "Meet Some Girls," "Sluts!" and "(I Just Wanna Be) Your Steve McQueen" (which Mirsky wrote and sang for last year's "The Tao of Steve" soundtrack; he also penned and performed the film's title track).

Mirsky, who wrote the title song for the 1998 movie "Happiness," sings a little like Evan Dando, but somehow we know he's not as fey in real life.

His take on things (women), however, is as sour as a whole package of Lemonheads. This isn't a bad thing; this is clever power pop - the whole premise of "Payback" is the best offer for services we've ever heard. And the aforementioned "Your Steve McQueen" manages to name all of the late, great one's films. It's a fine tribute on a fine album.

-Kevin Amorim

FROM "SANTA MONICA MIRROR"

 The only thing more charming than Donal Logue's lead performance in the sleeper hit "The Tao Of Steve" from 2000 is the soundtrack, especially the title track and "(I Just Wanna Be) Your Steve McQueen." The fellow responsible for these swell songs is Eytan Mirsky, currently residing in Forest Hills, New York. "Was It Something I Said?" sounds like Elvis Costello in a really good mood collaborating with Marshall Crenshaw. "All The Things To Do When She Says No" is pure Brit pop and "Just Another In A Long, Line Line" has a slight Ska feel. With a smart urban jangle, Mirsky serves up 16 tracks where Melancholy is duking it out with Romantic Longing. This album easily proves his endearing contributions to "The Tao Of Steve" were no fluke. Track 13 is a total hoot where Mirsky has some unusual (if self-serving) advice for a woman friend with a cheating boyfriend: "Don't you want a little payback/Baby can't you see?/You can get a little payback/Sleeping with a loser like me." This sly song deserves to be the centerpiece on the soundtrack of another indie movie that as we speak is being written on a laptop at some Starbucks. "Was It Something I Said?" is the best power pop album I've heard since Fountains Of Wayne's "Utopia Parkway" - which, by the way, was my #1 album from 1999.

- Tony Peyser

FROM "BUCKETFULL OF BRAINS" (British zine)

Eytan Mirsky

Was It Something I Said?

M-Squared Records MM-1003

...[Eytan's] new album is a joy. The main difference between it and its predecessor is in style rather than

content. The warmth and feel of the new arrangements and production provide more contrast and colour to the songs.

     The songs themselves, like before, are amusing and clever in the style of Elvis Costello or Nick Lowe. And his music follows a similar UK pub rock/new wave pop route, with names like Squeeze and The Jags coming to mind. But by far the best comparison both lyrically and melodically is to the sadly forgotten Any Trouble.

     A skim through the song titles tells you exactly what to expect. Check these lovesick, bitter and twisted examples: "When Good Girls Go Bad"; "Love Is For Girls"; "Just Another In A Long Long Line"; "Leaving You"; "Can I Get Any Lower?"; "Only Hurting Myself"; "All The Things To Do When She Says No"; and "Sluts!" There's also a cool song called "( I Just Wanna Be) Your Steve McQueen" which appears in the film "The Tao Of Steve."

     This is a wonderful album. Eytan, please keep us on your Christmas card list!

-Terry Hermon

FROM "AMPLIFIER"

Eytan Mirsky "Was it Something I Said?"

Poor Eytan! From the look on his face on the CD sleeve of his third album, you can roughly guess that things are not going as well as he would have hoped.Worse still, when the cause is usually the (un)fairer sex. From bemused confusion ("I'm used to seeing you as modest and pure, shy and demure as can be/ So when I see you busting out of your shell it's scaring the hell out of me") to resigned bitterness ("If you don't want me, that's nothing new. I've been rejected by better girls than you."), from profound depression ("So I wakeup and she's gone and she's heading off with my best friend") to wishful desperation ("Don't you want a little payback, baby can't you see? You can get a little payback, sleeping with a loser like me"), this album is littered with sharp and witty observations on the gender wars. Musically, Mirsky ups the ante from the previous "Get Ready for Eytan," buffing his pleasing approximation of early '80's new wave/power pop (viz. Elvis Costello, Marshall Crenshaw, Nick Lowe, Squeeze and the Smithereens) to a gleam. Guaranteed to raise a smile, Eytan Mirsky's melancholic tunes and visual narratives are a potent combination that no intelligent power pop fan should miss.

- Kevin Mathews

FROM "NEW YORK AREA POWER POP PAGE"

(http://powerpop.home.att.net)

Eytan Mirsky, "Was it Something I Said?"

This is what will happen to you after you listen to Eytan's new and wonderful album: You'll be sitting on a bus, or brushing your teeth or doing anything else in your daily routine and all of sudden, unnanounced, the music will start replaying...   "When Good Girls, When Good Girls Go Bad..." or "I Can't Make Up Mind, but that's OK" or "Do I, Do I ,Do I Have to Say It". But you'll be nowhere near your CD player, the music will be coming from the stereo of your mind. You see, Eytan writes the catchiest melodies around - you won't be able to extricate them from your brain, almost like some virus. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I think the big difference in this album compared to his previous "Get Ready for Eytan!" is the improved production. The new album just sounds better than the last. Larry Saltzman, Jon Gordon and Warren Odze form a band that put the songs in a great setting. Fellow New York artists Mark Bacino and Joe Mannix (whose music is commented on elsewhere on this site) lend a friendly hand on background vocals.

The lyrics are humorous and are worth listening to with care.  But I also love the way the melodies surprise but yet evoke classical pop styles. For example, "All the Things to Do When She Says No" begins with an introductory a capella quatrain, like a song by the Gershwins.

Was it something he sang that put that smile on your face? Yes!

- Sherman Boim

from "FUFKIN.COM" (www.fufkin.com)

Eytan Mirsky "Was it Something I Said?" (M-Squared Records)

Girls are the thing, the inscrutable enemy, devious and desirable, frightening and evil and yet also beautiful and the best thing in this universe. Such is the inspirational paradox behind almost every song of Eytan Mirsky, New York's own romantic pop schlemiel on this, his third and most polished collection yet. Topic-wise, not a lot has changed since his debut CD, entitled "Songs About Girls (& Other Painful Subjects)." Yet with each ensuing release, Mirsky grows more comfortable and skilled in both his musical ability and his role as sad sack troubadour. Mirsky takes on a lovable loser persona of say, the musical equivalent of early Woody Allen, and does it with wit and panache that belie the "poor me" stance he presents in song.

"Was It Something I Said?" serves up 16 microcosms of savory melodrama defused by the skill of Mirsky's self-effacing humor and talent at harnessing bouncy and infectious pop melodies. "When Good Girls Go Bad" describes the horrors and ensuing confusion when that unexpected transformation takes place: "I'm used to seeing you as modest and pure, shy and demure as can be / so when I see you busting out of your shell / it's scaring the hell out of me."

"Just Another In A Long Long Line" is the first of several songs portraying "Eytan as Loser." Here he is the recent rejectee, sassing back to his rejecter that she is nothing special ("you're just another in a long long line, you're just another girl that won't be mine "), and that better girls than her have rejected him. Rationalization works, especially when you can sing along. In "Leaving You," the embittered Eytan at relationship's end makes it clear that he's the one leaving her (even if no one will believe him, he wants to set the record straight as to who is dumping whom).

There is comfort to be taken from some of this catchy pop. "When You're A Human Being" discusses the difficulties of existence. "Can't Make Up My Mind" tells us it's okay not to come to any immediate commitments, that he has made up his mind to make up his mind someday. Additional advice is espoused on the great track "All The Things To Do When She Says No." Here Tim Boykin and The Lolas play back up as master of rejection Mirsky dishes the real dirt on how to handle things.

"Payback" is a particular lyrical standout, turning the tables on desperation and revenge by propositioning a girl who is being ill-treated by her man as follows: "I see the way he cheats on you is getting out of hand / but you don't do a thing about it, I don't understand / don't you want a little payback / baby can't you see / you can get a little payback sleeping with a loser like me."

Mirsky's ensemble on the majority of the tracks does a masterful job: Larry Saltzman does most of the great lead and rhythm guitar work, Jon Gordon lends extra guitars, lap steel, bass and occasional organ (he also mixed, mastered and associate produced the CD) and Warren Odze does most of the drumming. Guest vocals include fellow indie pop brethren Mark Bacino and Joe Mannix. This is mature melodic pop of the highest order, easy on the ears, memorably catchy and a fun listen, as Mirsky gives Walter Clevenger a run for his money as "the American Nick Lowe".

A graduate of NYU's Film School, Mirsky has been able to get some recognition through the placement of songs on soundtracks. He wrote the title track for buddy Todd Solondz' film "Happiness" (sung by Michael Stipe), and also placed two songs in Jenniphr Goodman's "The Tao of Steve." One of those songs "(I Just Wanna Be) Your Steve McQueen" is included as a bonus track here, cleverly working McQueen film references into the lyrics.

As one roots for the persona of Mirsky to "get the girl," additionally one also hopes that Mirsky the talented singer/songwriter will get a break someday soon. One who composes such clever, catchy well-structured pop deserves a far wider audience than the devoted cult that has already discovered the fun of his music.

- Gary Glauber

FROM "INDIE MONKEY" (www.indiemonkey.com)

Eytan Mirsky

'Was It Something I Said?'

(M-Squared Records, 2001)

Clearly, New York based popster Eytan Mirsky doesn't care much for changing his musical style with each new album. His previous effort 'Get Ready for Eytan!' was filled with the kind of toe-tapping, melodic pop that evoked memories of the likes of Candy and Elvis Costello, and thankfully his latest opus 'Was It Something I Said?' shows that the onset of a new Millennium hasn't altered his ability to write top-notch pop.

In fact, in repeating the winning formula of its predecessor, this album is something of an improvement upon it. The great melodies still remain, as do the wickedly perceptive and humourous lyrics, but overall the quality of the songs seems better.

With an irrepressible melody and structure, 'When Good Girls Go Bad' is a masterclass in how to write the 3 minute pop song and will be as addictive to pop fans as Viagra is to Hugh Hefner. Although entirely appropriate, I don't think the titles for 'Just Another In A Long Long Line' or 'Can't Make Up My Mind' were inspired by Mr Hefner's penchant for similar looking blondes, but they are great songs just the same. The former is the kind of bouncy pop-rock that Mirsky has down to a fine art and simple, yet effective lyrics as 'If you don't want me/that's nothing new/ I've been rejected/by better girls like you' just add to the joy.

His songs are still full of funny, down-on-their-luck characters who can't get laid to save their lives, but Mirsky's unique brand of clever lyrical pessimism encompasses a wider picture this time around, especially on the superb 'Human Being' complete with lyrics like 'Man crawled out of the jungle/put on a jacket and tie/started civilisation/somebody tell me why' for those particularly bad days at the office. Proof of every band's major motivation is found in 'Meet Some Girls' and the rocking 'Payback' is a novel take on how to heal the pain of a broken relationship.

As well as the characters, the musicians remain first class, and once again Larry Saltzman's guitar adds real spice to the songs and even former Suzanne Vega guitarist John Gordon joins in the fun on a number of tracks.

The production isn't as crisp as 'Get Ready For Eytan!', and some might say that the album is a little overcrowded with 16 tracks, but save for the occasional lapse, songs like the standout 'Can I Get Any Lower?' and 'I Just Wanna Be Your Steve McQueen' (the soundtrack to the film 'The Tao of Steve') prove that Mirsky's 2 minute treasures never outstay their welcome.

Some musicians aren't happy unless they're tampering with their style and 'growing musically', but whilst he's making great pop albums like this, there's no reason for Mirsky to think about about doing that. I doubt that an album of industrial grunge music is something Mirsky is considering, but even if he is, I bet he could still make it a whole lot of fun.

- Andrew Ellis

FROM "SUITE 101" (www.suite101.com)

Eytan Mirsky

Was It Something I Said?

You may have heard from Mirsky before. He performed three songs on the "Tao of Steve" soundtrack, as well as penning the title track to the brilliant Todd Solondz film "Happiness." Eytan's latest is a generous 16-song offering, returning wholly, gloriously and unabashedly to his favorite subject matter: women, women, women, and the woe they bring.

We get things started with "When Good Girls Go Bad," a title which very much sounds like something to expect on FOX next fall. As for the song, it's a good indication of what to expect from Was It Something I Said?. Mirsky is a strong singer with a vocal swagger that belies the wry self-deprecation of his lyrics. His music is at home in the pleasingly pop world of Jonathan Richman's and very much at odds with the bubble gum on the airwaves.

For sheer songwriting, it doesn't get much better than "Payback." Speaking to a woman who's been continually treated poorly by her significant other, Eytan helpfully suggests "You can get a little payback / Sleeping with a loser like me."

But this isn't an album that wallows in self-pity. Quite the contrary. For the pretty but unextraordinary girl who's rejected you, there's "Just Another In A Long, Long Line." For the girl who's about to drop the relationship guillotine on you, there's the gentle ballad "Leaving You" that manages to fire the first punch. And then there's the self-explanatory "Sluts!"

Melodically and musically speaking, the album hits its peak right in the middle with the duel questions "Can I Get Any Lower?" and "Do I Have To Say It?" Both of these songs are instantly contagious, framed by solid party riffs and featuring choruses that you'll be singing along by the end of your first listen. The album also includes, as a bonus track, "(I Just Wanna Be) Your Steve McQueen," from the "Tao of Steve" soundtrack.

For more info, check out the official site at http://eytanmirsky.home.att.net or head over to CD Baby to listen to songs and purchase this album at http://www.cdbaby.com/eytanmirsky2. While you're there, be sure to check out his almost equally solid 1999 effort "Get Ready For Eytan!"

- Adam McKibbin

FROM "SHAKE IT UP!"

Eytan Mirsky "Was It Something I Said?" (M-Squared Records)

**** (4 stars out of 5)

Combining some great songwriting, a little help from a few friends, and a lyrical wit that is virtually unsurpassed these days, Eytan Mirsky offers more of what he does best on his third release "Was It Something I Said?"

Mirsky is first and foremost a poet representing the heartbroken and downtrodden. No, this isn't "mopey" stuff but rather songs that have a self-deprecating sense of humour that puts a smile on your face thanks to its combining with simple and gorgeous melodies. Mirsky's vocal stands front-and-centre (Canadian spelling, yanks) right where it should. It would be a shame if his wonderful lyrics in "Meet Some Girls" and in the tribute to "Sluts" were overpowered.

Mirsky has become a pop troubadour that consistently teeters on a more roots based sound - perhaps to accommodate the confessional nature of his words. There's a lonesome "twang" that is inherent in "Only Hurting Myself" that would make it the best country song of the year that isn't quite country (figure that out!). "Leaving You" falls close to the same category as a song that would be easily adaptable. Mirsky can lay down a "hurtin'" tone when he wants to.

Even better, though, is Mirsky's own brand of effervescent pop. The opening "When Good Girls Go Bad" is perhaps the finest all-out anthem in his catalog, while "Can I Get Any Lower?" is a pretty darn close second. In making the most of his songs, Mirsky's surrounded with some fine playing from both Larry Saltzman and Jon Gordon on guitar and some background support from Joe Mannix and Mark Bacino. Best of all is the team of Mirsky and The Lolas on "All The Things To Do When She Says No" - which seems an unlikely pairing at first but hey, it works perfectly. As if the fun wasn't enough, Mirsky's contribution to "The Tao Of Steve" soundtrack "(I Just Wanna Be) Your Steve McQueen" appears here as a "bonus" track.

Mirsky's all about fun and honesty. That makes "Was It Something I Said?" shine.

- Claudio Sossi

FROM "FEBER.SE" (www.feber.se)

Eytan Mirsky "Was It Something I Said?"

Okay, this whole power pop wave, with Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, and Marshall Crenshaw was, to mention a few big names in the mix - a fly shit in the cosmos.

I know I was crazy about that music.  It was smart pop songs with funny/cynical/observant/self-referencing lyrics of manly longing for The Great Love and The Fantastic Woman.

It was songs as short as the ties were skinny.

It was a wave that washed over the world and got way more publicity compared to how it sold.  It never fails to surprise me how it's survived and how it still lives on, how more new and relatively young men continue to pursue a style of music that didn't even have that big an audience to begin with.

Most of it is damn trash.  But - There is also an Eytan Mirsky.

I heard him the first time on "Hit the Hay, Vol 4" where his fantastic "(I Just Wanna Be) Your Steve McQueen" was included.  He has written film music, among other things the theme to Todd Solondz's modern classic "Happiness," which Michael Stipe from REM sang. He's put out two previous cd's: "Songs about Girls (& Other Painful Subjects)" and "Get Ready for Eytan!"  The latter is available at Countryrockspecialisten (CRS) in Sweden but it's maybe easier if you email direct to eytanmirsky@hotmail.com; that's usually how it works these days.

If you know your pop history, you understand how it sounds, and Mirsky is quite a bit better than average. Titles like "When Good Girls Go Bad," "Love is for Girls," "Can I Get Any Lower?" "All The Things To Do When She Says No," or "Sluts!" are perfect examples of smart power pop in the classic style.

(7/10)

- Mats Olsson (August 7, 2001)

FROM "POPISM"

Eytan Mirsky "Was It Something I Said?"

The work of the New York singer/songwriter Eytan Mirsky stands as a proof of the fact that the Americans remember the British mid-'60s invasion better than anyone else, which is pretty natural actually concerning the fact that it took place on their teritory, while the British themselves took it for granted and soon placed it somewhere in the back of their memories. Carefully taking notes, Mirsky transformed his impresions into three (for now) authentic pop items with unpretentious production , bringing the actual SONGS to the fore, which comes as some kinda refreshment in the modern-daze labyrinth of studio cacophonies. On "Was It Something I Said?" the book opens more than often on the Merseybeat and post-punk pop chapters, delivering them in several combinations. Some might find it intriguing enough to see the names of a couple of contemporary pop icons like Mark Bacino, Joe Mannix or Lolas, who all contributed in the making of the album, but soon enough it becomes clear that the artist himself is more than enough for an unforgettable sound adventure. The aforementioned yankee-interperetation of the Liverpudlian melodies is most evident in the songs like "Leaving You" and "Can't Make Up My Mind" with it's characteristic "'hard day' solo." Eytan's specific lyrical approach shines through on titles like the Nick Lowe-ish-with-a-dash-of-rootsy-sound couple "When Good Girls Go Bad" and "Love Is for Girls" and also in "All the Things to Do When She Says No" or "(I Just Wanna Be) Your Steve McQueen." In some of the songs, like "Can I Get Any Lower" or "Do I Have to Say It?" with it's great repetitively-hypnotical guitar riff, Eytan skillfully hides the traces of his influences, making them still sound so familiar at the same time.

"Was It Something I Said?" is a little album that's definitely needed in any serious pop collection because of its exceptional content as well as for its role of a balance to the megalomaniacal Oasis-like phenomenons!

- Goran Obradovic

from "ROOTSTOWN MUSIC MAGAZINE"

Eytan Mirsky "Was It Something I Said?" (M-Squared Records, 2001)

In reviewing the previous CD by this New Yorker, my colleague LD pretty much went crazy and the undersigned therefore is all ears. Now that the new CD has made it to my basket, I cannot but whole-heartedly agree with LD: Eytan Mirsky writes super-glorious pop songs.

On the guy's website I found plenty of references to Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello and Marshall Crenshaw and these references are absolutely appropriate. However, I seem to miss the most obvious link, i.e. the link to Pat DiNizio of the late Smithereens. Stating that Eytan sings a bit like Evan Dando (of the Lemonheads) does not amount to much, especially when you have the perfect benchmark within reach. Like no other (except for Crenshaw), Eytan Mirsky masters the art of writing pop songs that, as soon as you have listened to them, cosily nestle in your brain and can under no circumstances be driven away from your mind. There are fourteen new songs on his third album. There is little point in listing the titles, although I have to get it off my chest that "Can't Make Up My Mind" is basically the best three minute song that I have heard in a long time. Do yourself a favor and go out and buy the new album: 3/4 of an hour of sunny music is coming your way. Apart from the new songs there are two bonuses: "Your Steve McQueen" and "Human Nature." Simply a great CD! (DH)

from "ZUGER PRESSE"

Eytan Mirsky "Was It Something I Said?" (M-Squared Records, 2001)

Women/Love/Women

New Yorker Eytan Mirsky hasn't been very lucky in love. Fortunately, though, he is a songwriter and can transform his romantic difficulties into music. Consequently, many of the songs on his third CD are about unhappy relationships. Eytan can see the ironic side of his suffering, though, singing, as he does, songs like "Love Is for Girls" or "All the Things to Do When She Says No." And he adds a sign of underlying optimism in the power pop music (a la the Smithereens or Marshall Crenshaw) that accompanies the lyrics. Frustrated people don't write "nice" pop songs. "Was It Something I Said?" is the perfect soundtrack for all heart-broken people who are already nearly over it.

- Robert Pally

from MUSICMISFITS.COM (www.musicmisfits.com)

Eytan Mirsky "Was It Something I Said?"

... I came across Eytan Mirsky's "Was It Something I Said?" CD [on CD BABY]...Since the bio mentioned the movie "The Tao Of Steve," I bought the CD....It has several good songs in the smart ass singer/songwriter category, including "(I Just Wanna Be) Your Steve McQueen"... The aforementioned movie uses said actor as the man all men should aspire to be....but with song titles like "When Good Girls Go Bad," "Love Is For Girls," "Do I Have To Say It" and my personal favorite "All The Things To Do When She Says No," I might aspire to be Eytan.

- Gregg Ott

from HIGH BIAS (www.highbias.net)

Eytan Mirsky "Was It Something I Said?"

A sad sack with a classic pop voice and a penchant for sparkling melodic hooks, Big Apple singer/songwriter Eytan Mirsky received a nice career boost last year when some of his tunes were included on the soundtrack to the hit indie film The Tao of Steve. His third album Was It Something I Said? is chock full of endearingly droll power pop that walks a fine line between ironic and self-absorbed. "When Good Girls Go Bad," "All the Things to Do When She Says No" and "Just Another in a Long, Long Line" chronicle the travails of modern romance with the aid of impossibly catchy jangleriffs. "Payback" takes a position of enlightened self-interest ("You can get a little payback sleeping with a loser like me"), while "Meet Some Girls" unabashedly states the open secret of why little boys pick up guitars. "(I Just Wanna Be) Your Steve McQueen" and the cheery "Sluts!" will inspire plenty of smiles as well. Mirsky puts just enough moping into his Pat DiNizio-clone voice to keep his tunes from upsetting the irony-meter; the catch in his croon gives the mean-spirited breakup ballad "Leaving You" and the self-absorbed "Only Hurting Myself" an emotional undercurrent that goes beyond mere cleverness. Fans of the well-tempered power pop chord will find a new hero in Eytan Mirsky.

For fans of: the Smithereens, Jonathan Richman, early Nick Lowe

Michael Toland

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