Fire Garden
George Usher Group
(Parasol, 2003)



Amplifier
"Usher proudly follows in the footsteps of Messrs. McGuinn and Petty ..."

Graffiti Online
"... these sturdy songs end up very easy to appreciate."

No Depression
"... highly tuneful and original stuff ..."

20th Century Guitar
"... a true pop masterpiece."

Harp
"Fire Garden overflows with irresistible melodies ..."

Splendid
"... melodic guitar pop just doesn't get much better than the gorgeous bridge of "The Return of Your Loved Ones in Dreams"

Aversion
"... the hooks dig deep and bring a new level of enjoyment with each listen."

Uncut
"Fire Garden ... is as close as one can get to a textbook definition of 'power pop.'"

BabySue
"Fire Garden is a lovely album full of sparkling melodies and shimmering instrumentation."

Fufkin.com
Eric Sorenson
"Once you have listened to this disc, you will agree with me that Fire Garden is a solid contender for Top Ten honors in 2003."

Gary Glauber
"George Usher is a true pop craftsman ..."

Mike Bennett
"'The Day Before I Found Her' is concise and perfect."

MundaneSounds.com
"Fire Garden is a steady album of fine, sunny-day pop-rock."




Days of Plenty
George Usher Group
(Parasol, 2001)



Bucketfull of Brains
"... the album is full of emotive stories of love and life ..."

Amplifier
"... George Usher is a minor legend of contemporary pop."

MusicMatters.com
"... Days of Plenty is a wonderful collection of truly worthwhile songs."

Aversion.com
"... Usher tears into the sparkling pop with the wit and sharpened eye of the singer/songwriter."

HighBias.com
"Days of Plenty ... offers great rewards"

Songwriter's Monthly
"The George Usher Group has that distinctive vibe that somewhere in their record collection resides a stash of Beatles or Kinks albums. Catchy. Not quirky, but fun. A casual romp through guitar and harmony land."



Dutch April
George Usher
(Parasol, 1998)



Pulse!
"... Usher is one of America's foremost unsung pop auteurs ..."

Bucketfull of Brains
"Dutch April is ... perfect for savoring with the car windows down or in front of a crackling fire on a wintry night."

Sound Views
"With a deep creative well to draw from, Usher can get artful without ever sounding like he's stuck for ideas ..."

Amplifier
"If you haven't already discovered [George Usher], it's time to tune in and enjoy his timeless, hum along pop music!"

AudioCafe
"Usher has a way of wrapping a hook around a song that is absolutely lethal in intensity ... "

Waterfront Week
"The melodies ache with regret and introspection ..."

Luke
"Usher shows that he is a subtle and understated lyricist with a good understanding of pop aesthetics ..."

Village Voice
"One of New York's best pop craftsmen"

Magnet
"Dutch April ladles thick, meaty gravy over melody, with honey-throated warbler Usher coming across as the heir apparent to Tommy Keene."

Touched by the Power of Pop
"When hip folkie Bob Dylan plugged in his guitar and went electric, he repaid the tribute that beat groups like The Beatles and more significantly The Byrds had offered with their take on Dylan's style to evolve folk-rock. Since then artists as diverse as Robyn Hitchcock and R.E.M. have build their idiosyncratic approach from this base. Add George Usher to this list of 12 stringed Richenbecker McGuinnesque acolytes. Throw in a pinch of new Americana and the results found on Dutch April are more than gratifying."

Yeah Yeah Yeah
"Brings to mind the cloning of Roger McGuinn's vocal chords. Thank god George doesn't choose to imitate him. Instead this is an album of tunes that showcase a solid singer-songwriter in his own right. The Byrds tag will always apply unless he learns to croon or sing the blues. I ain't gonna argue 'cause this is fine pop. Includes the old House Of Usher-era favorite, 'Begging For Rain' which appears on the Del-Fi IPO disc. 13 tunes to discover what Mr. Usher is all about."

Stomp and Stammer
"A stubborn disciple of pure '80s jangle pop, New Yorker Usher played briefly in both the Bongos and Beat Rodeo, but his own material reveals more common ground with Crenshaw, Holsapple, Stamey, et al. A gifted songwriter with a winning band, Usher probably has an ice cube's chance in hell of ever making any serious headway with the mindless masses, but arrivals like this certainly give my own attitude a welcome dose of optimism. Hell, I could've listened to the new Fleming & John instead."

Happenstance (U.K.)
"Former Bongo and Beat Rodeo, George Usher made the 'classic' Miracle School album that redefined Ameripop some time back. This new album is probably a more immediate reading of his finely-honed pop melodramas with plenty in the way of his distinctive under-throbbed guitar and psyche-pop vocal. At times it's like listening to Buffalo Springfield's multi-harmonied soul with Usher's lead melody holding it all together. Alternative Press reckoned Usher was a '19th century Romantic poet inhabiting the body of a Beatles 'n' Byrds pop-rocker'. They should get out more. This one is about brittle songs played in an analogued reverberie, utilising every last aching droplet of broken hearted sentiment."



Miracle School
George Usher Group
(Lonesome Whippoorwill, 1996)



Bucketfull of Brains
"Miracle School is one of the great treasures of contemporary pop ..."

Amplifier
"... this is one of the best releases of the past year."

Sound Views
"Each song complements and reinforces the songs around it ..."

Hearsay
"Honest but unerringly true, its simplicity is the power behind this storming pop."

Pulse!
"Miracle School (****) offers a dozen examples of veteran New York tunesmith George Usher's exquisitely crafted art-pop, which boasts a lyrical sensitivity and melodic sophistication that marks Usher as one of the New York scene's most underappreciated resources."

Alternative Press
"A nineteenth century Romantic poet inhabits the body of a Beatles 'n' Byrds pop-rocker. The delicate, folky ballad "Love's Witness," co-written with Kate Jacobs, highlights his latest, again produced by James Mastro. Light the candles."



The Musicians' Exchange
"It's not only flowers that bloom in the spring; April and May always bring an explosion of music. My ultimately fruitless effort to keep up demands that I keep the reviews way short and limit my feature to one artist.

He's George Usher and I play his tape all the time. (Think of how many tapes I get and read that last sentence-again.) Usher plays gorgeous, brilliant pop music. Though clearly inspired by such British invaders as the Hollies and the Beatles (in that order) -- not to mention The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and Brian Wilson on the Yankee side -- Usher's songs are so powerfully right, so undeniably his own, that all consideration of source and context are swept aside in a rush of sheer enjoyment. For me, anyway. A large part of the spell is his voice: a high, tremulous thing from the same planet as Neil Young and Roy Orbison. Whether delivering the velvet barbs of 'The Gospel According To Joe,' hollering for the 'Fever Train' or gently urging 'Don't Be Afraid To Love,' Usher's vocals are a soothing tonic. Speaking of which, his six-song demo was produced by Richard Mastro of The Health And Happiness Show. It's poetry."

Alternative Press
"A magic demo from a co-writer for the Bongos, Kate Jacobs, Richard Barone and the Health and Happiness Show (whose MC, James Mastro, produced with a flourish). Hatched in Orbison's nest, Usher's remarkable voice swoops and soars aloft the goreouse, poignant melodies of 'Alexandra,' 'Don't Be Afraid to Love' and the Blake-inspired 'The Gospel According to Joe.' (That's William by the way, not Babies.) Marvelous, folk-pop with a view of Penny Lane, this is on my stereo constantly."