POP-LIFE - SEP. '99

The September 1, 1999

The Hillary Step

The “Step” referred to in this promising new band’s name is not a veiled
reference to Mrs. Clinton’s entry into the Senate race, but a direct reference
to Mount Everest’s final 4o feet, a sheer patch of rock and ice named for Sir Edmund Hillary, the first westerner to conquer it. Lofty imagery for a pop band,
but the handle somehow captures the determination and enthusiasm that this
six-[iece band brings to its music.

Recently signed by Canada’ Attack Records, The Step will release their first
album, Knee Deep in Giants, later this fall. Their brand of roots-pop will be compared (favorably) to Canada’s Barenaked Ladies, and that’s not a bad thing. Led by songwriters, Rob Schiffmann and Jon Rothstein, they turn out quirky,
hook-rich, harmony-soaked gems, the kind the Ladies have already used to
beat an advanced path to radio programmers everywhere. Watch and listen
as the Hillary Step continue their climb at the Bitter End. Septemebr 17
at The Bitter End (147 Bleecker St. at Thompson Street, 673-7030).  

 - Jeff Breithaupt