Subject: LTC Rolling Stone Article, 
              Scanned from the September 8 issue, p.42
              (Performance Section) 

                       LETTERS  TO  CLEO
NEW YORK CITY, Mercury Lounge, July 23,  1994


Tired  of  noisy  bands?  Want  more  round  sound  waves?
Don't  know  what  to  do until  the inevitable  comeback of roots   
rock?   Maybe   you   don't  have  to  do   a   thing.   Maybe   alterna-
punk   pop   will  just  grow  kinder and gentler until it becomes, well 
pop.  Welcome  to  Letters  to  Cleo, a  Boston-area  band that most  
closely   resembles the Divinyls but without that band's undercurrent 
of   psychosis  and  menace (unfortunately, its most compelling 
qualities).
          
That  said,  Letters  to  Cleo  do  what  they  do  very  well. Vocalist 
Kay   Hanley  has  a  voice  that's  both  quirky  and  flawless,  with  
a  pissed-off  edge  that  contrasts with her   almost   disconcertingly    
wholesome,    cute     appearance (complete   with   ponytails,   like    
a    new    incarnation    of  Gidget).    Michael    Eisenstein    and     
Greg    McKenna   add  big,  full-bodied   guitar   sounds   that   come   
off   best   when  they  make  a  sly  slide  into  a  minor  key,  as  on  
'Big  Star,"  or  power  up  to  almost  metallic  intensity,  as  they  did   
sporadically throughout  the  set.
      
Letters  to  Cleo  do  not  waste   time   on   extraneous   bullshit  or   
manufactured   angst.   They   don't   talk   much.    They  seem  to  
actually   have   fun   onstage   They   keep   the   focus    on   those   
hooks   -   memorable,   shamelessly   big   and   beautiful, a radio 
programmer's wet dream - while surrounding them with  edgy  little  
riffs  (and  a  good  thing,  too,  lest they  cross  over  into  Bon  Jovi  
territory).   There's   'I   See,'  with  a  syncopated,  whimsical  beat;   
'Get   On   With   It'   has a  wistfiil  plantive  quality.   There   were   
probably   edgy   little  riffs  during the last  part  of  the  set,  too.  
Except  that  the Mercury   Lounge,    filled    to    call-the-fire-
marshal   overcapacity   during   the  New  Music  Seminar,    has   a    
bathroom in  the  bar,  not  the  main  room,  the  two  separated  by,   
like, 500  people  squashed  into  one   little   aisle ......   no   matter.  
Next  time   Letters   to   Cleo   come   around,   they'll   probably
be an arena opening act, anyway.   - DAINA  DARZIN