Reviewed by David George Canada. Land of Bryan Adams, Bruce Cockbum, and now... Hokus Pick Manouver. This Vancouver based 4-piece have about them something of the college graduate humour of They Might Be Giants - imagine Fat And Frantic with a Canadian accent and you'll be there. Guitars jangle merrily, drums pound enthusiastically, the vocals are ever so slightly out of tune - you know the kind of thing. It's all done with a wink and a smile but for me, at any rate, it doesn't really come off. "Love And Co", which will strike a chord with tongue-tied Romeos everywhere, and "Sofa Logic", chronicling the sorry existence of a couch potato, stand out, but as for the rest - well, it's pleasant enough, but fairly unexceptional. I suspect HPM are really in their element live, but here they never quite manage to get into their stride. If quirky college graduates are your cup of tea 'Pick It Up' might be worth a flutter, but somehow I don't think this will be the one to make them giants.
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Totally agree with Stevo. This is a great record and while Hokus Pick ain't They Might Be Giants, these are fun songs and downright refreshing as far as CCM goes. And yes, they were super duper amazing live, which was the perfect venue for their brand of quirky, tongue-in-cheek songwriting. And heck, this was 1992 when Christian bands were often burned at the stake (well, not literally) for not being super serious about faith and life.