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Reviews for EP: Check the Forecast
“In hindsight, “Lucky” by Model Shop was probably one of my favorite songs of 2022. The Seattle band really delivered an arresting reminder of just how high the ceiling is for well-executed guitar pop music with that song, and “Six Day Sunday”, while being just a little more low-key and less overtly sweeping than “Lucky”, continues to showcase the best of the band. …”
— Rosy Overdrive, November 28, 2023. read full review
“Infused with great hooks, energetic musicianship, and the ineffable joy of making music, Check The Forecast by Model Shop is your feel good pop record of the week. November is Seattle's rainiest month, but you wouldn't know it after listening to the four tracks on this record. "Easy Winter" is the lead single, but the true sunshine is delivered by the complete EP. Masterful work by this trio and you shouldn't delay treating your ears.”
— When You Motor Away, November 10, 2023. read full review
“Check The Forcast is the title of the new EP from Model Shop and it's wise advice under our rather troubled latitudes right now. The Seattle-based band released a first album in 2022 that was immediately rated must-have for its joyful, muscular and irresistible pop. The band's latest productions confirm all the good things we thought of back then.”
— L'indépen-dance at Radio Pulsar, November 16, 2023. see posts
released November 10, 2023
Reviews for single: Easy Winter
“They’re brandishing a classic indiepop sound here, working back and forth between pleasant melodic work and hard-hitting riffs that have you pounding on your steering wheel as you sing your way to work.”
— Austin Town Hall, October 4, 2023. read full review
“Meritorio continues their run of impeccable pop singles … with the insistent salve of “Easy Winter” lapping at the tail end of ‘90s power pop with shades of the indie wave that tore through the early aughts (think New Pornographers, Rogue Wave, or The Figgs). The band revels in crafting the kind of pop that shines through the shades like a sunbeam, lighting up the room with every note. The new EP shakes out as more proof of that power.”
— Raven Sings the Blues, October 4, 2023. read full review
released October 4, 2022
Reviews for LP: Love Interest
released November 25, 2022
“…A masterpiece full of sparkling melodies and rainbow-colored harmonies! “
— File Under Records, Nagoya, Japan, April 8, 2023. read full review
“Model Shop made one of the finest indie pop albums of the year. Letters to Melissa and The Greatest Only should be hits."
— One Chort to Another - A Finnish Pop Site, December 13, 2022. read full review
“All throughout the record the songs are well written and melodic...This record was everything I'd hoped it'd be and more...There's some real good pop stuff coming out of the Pac-NW these days and this band are near the top of the list!"
— Daggerzine, November 28, 2022. read full review
“…it clicks on all fronts and in all presented styles. The guitars are direct and bright and the choruses are simply superb. Model Shop can do a slow burner and rock out, but they shine the brightest on the uptempo pop songs such as ‘Lucky’, ‘Letters to Melissa’, ‘Compilation Tape’, ‘I Was Told This Would Be Easy’, and ‘The Greatest Only’…”
— When You Motor Away, November 28, 2022. read full review
“… the songs on Love Interest springboard out of the bedroom and into the sun. There’s an unbridled exuberance to the album. It’s packed full of the kind of pop hooks that were made to run through the neighborhood absorbing the sunlight filtering down through the trees with a permanent smile in tow… What sets Model Shop apart from many of their current contemporaries is a thicker production and less precious tether to the ‘90s heroes of indie pop...The record is loaded with singles that stick in the brain, from the driving opener ‘Lucky,’ to the soaring ‘Letters to Melissa,’ but they don’t let the connective tissue lag, crafting a solid set that begs repeated listens."
— Raven Sings the Blues, November 28, 2022. read full review
“ There are few joys in life that compare to discovering a song that you just know you’re going to play to death. Model Shop’s ‘Letter To Melissa’ is one such song, a joyous slice of indie pop that takes heavy artillery to any lingering grey clouds – not an easy task for a trio from Seattle. If choruses were currency, they’d be the richest three people in the Pacific Northwest...Model Shop don’t complicate matters across these ten songs...The chords are big, the hooks are sharp, the production’s warm and rounded – every element seems geared towards the most pleasant listening experience possible. God knows what makes a hit these days, but it seems criminal if it’s not this.”
— Ticketmaster Discover, UK, November 25, 2022. read full review
"Model Shop impress from the get go...Model Shop have no issue switching between slow and moody song to upbeat and uplifting tunes. Throughout it all, Model Shop deliver top of the class indie pop that they generously shower with lush and memorable melodies and delightful harmonies."
— Add to Want List, November 25, 2022. read full review
“… Not a moment of disappointment on the entire album from the latest Meritorio Records find."
— Janglepophub, November 26, 2022. read full review
Review for single: Lucky
released November 9, 2022
“ One more charmer out of the gate before the release of the debut from Model Shop. The band, featuring former members of Math & Physics Club, has crafted an album of indie pop bliss that plays off the strengths built in the forge of those critical darlings. Third single, ‘Lucky’ only serves to amplify the sparkle that’s shone off of their first two tastes of Love Interest. The album opener sets the tone, letting light jangles open into heart-on-sleeve pop hooks that pour out of the speakers in warm and inviting waves...”
— Raven Sings the Blues, November 9, 2022. read full review
“A thumping drum joins up with an acoustic strum, bringing about a galloping earnestness that kicks off hook-laden pop rock you’ll rush to turn up. They up the ante though, as one hook surely isn’t enough for the average pop fan, so they add in some vocal harmonies, adding both contrast and exuberance; it’s an immediate shot to the listener, letting us all know the group aim to please!”
— Austin Town Hall, November 11, 2022. read full review
“...Seattle’s Model Shop are a trio who just released their debut record on Meritorio, and, as one might expect from the label, it’s really sharp guitar pop. 'Lucky' is a beast of a song–the chorus is gigantic, but the verses are sneakily the catchiest parts of the song, and the single most memorable moment might just be the quietly-uttered 'I’ve been wasting so much time' in the instrumental break. Or maybe it’s the delivery of 'You were first to admit there might be something else you wanted' (oof). Or the bouncing bass in the chorus."
— Rosy Overdrive, January 2, 2023. read full review
Reviews for single: Compilation Tape
released October 12, 2022
“…the chorus, surging through like the KoolAid guy breaking through your stereo with pitcher of joy. There’s so many different plays on the indiepop sound here, it’s easy to find yourself a dozen little ear worms that’ll make your day…”
— Austin Town Hall, October 17, 2022. read full review
“ Like any truly good indie pop song ‘Compilation Tape’ has a solid core of melody and hooks. And this new single by Seattle's Model Shop has that and more. The sweet lyrics, layers of detail and classic arrangement result in a tune that lodges in your brain like it always belonged there...”
— When You Motor Away, October 14, 2022. read full review
“ …Like the triple-stacked swoons of the band’s first single, ‘Compilation Tape’ feels like the kind of song you’ve known for years, just trying to dig the pieces out of memory and bring them back to life...”
— Raven Sings the Blues, October 12, 2022. read full review
Reviews for single: Letters to Melissa
released September 21, 2022
“The chorus is an absolute ear worm, and you'll be humming it for days, weeks, probably till the end of your days. The tracks pulsating drums, delicate melodies and wistful vocals come together into the most perfect jangle-pop of the last few years…Absolute pop perfection. ”
— Much Against Everyone’s Advice , May 8, 2023. read full review
“This new single [Letters to Melissa ] illustrates the promise that awaits; there’s this striking positivity that resonates from the various textures, always hitting the pop notes. As I listened on repeat, I found the tune landing somewhere between Nada Surf and early Jimmy Eat World, leaving me with a tune I could let live in my head all day long. Love Interest will be out on November [25th], and it’s going to spin on my end non-stop.”
— Austin Town Hall , September 21, 2022. read full review
“ The first single ‘Letters To Melissa’ is a full bodied bout of pop, with three-part harmonies soaring over the band’s sparkling guitars. ... The song is a warm breeze of indie pop, curling its charms around the listener with a naturally lived-in ease.”
— Raven Sings the Blues, September 21, 2022. read full review
“The little story told in ‘Letters To Melissa’ had reminded me of that old Richard Linklater movie, Before Dawn : that same urge to tell another person everything and everything in one moment, until I almost gasped. That feeling of being suddenly knocked out of one's heart that happens so few times and that we always want to try. For this reason it made me smile to read that Model Shop 's music would like to "evoke the soundtrack of some lost John Hughes film": it succeeds very well. ... A vibrant sound, obviously descended from that of our beloved MAPC, ‘with touchstones in 80s college rock, 90s alternative, and indiepop of a more recent vintage’.”
— Polaroid—A Blog on the Radio, September 22, 2022 read full review
“Despite Model Shop being a new band with no discography to pour through, we can confidently predict that we will love their debut album, Love Interest. Is that due to their first single from the album, the upbeat and impossibly breezy ‘Letters to Melissa’? Well, that would be enough. But … we have an additional reason. We happen to know that the two gentlemen in the trio, Kevin and Ethan, were members of one of our all-time favorite Puget Sound area indie pop bands, the late Math and Physics Club…We think treats are coming, boys and girls.”
— When You Motor Away, September 21, 2022 read full review
“‘Letters To Melissa’ is the first single from [Love Interest] and it is a shimmering, harmonic indiepop tune that wets the appetite for that album.”
— Records I Like, September 21, 2022 read full review