“What could be bad with such a name?”
Robert Christgau,
The Village Voice

“I’m completely hooked”
Rob Seidenberg, New York Talk

“Their sound seems to be getting stronger and stronger”
The New York Daily News

The Best Unsigned Pop Band in NYC

Jordan Chassan will tell you – a good pop song has to stand up to repeated listening. “that’s the whole basis of pop” says the singer/songwriter/guitarist of The Young Hegelians, “repeated exposure”. Well, after nearly 20 listenings to the Hegelians demo, I’m completely hooked -- by the sweet harmonies of Chassan and bassist Keith Stoutenburg, the smart lyrics with letter-perfect rhymes; Jimmy Morrison’s propellant drumming and Chassan’s catchy guitar lines.

Although the Hoboken-based trio has been around for barely one year and has played fewer than 12 gigs, they have already attracted the attention of record companies and it’s no wonder. Their energetic, uncluttered sound is especially appealing at a time when heavy metal is God to many; and when most guitar-oriented pop groups come up with only one song – at best.

All the Hegelians’ songs are strong, and each centers around an innovative guitar figure. “You’re Gonna Get What You Want” has a lively, happy feel reminiscent of the Flaming Groovies; in “Better in Every Way” the verse, chorus and bridge are nicely crafted into a coherent whole (a rarity these days). “Why” – my personal favorite – departs most from the pure-pop form with a startling, abrupt chorus. In addition, the Hegelians cover of Roger Miller’s classic “King of the Road” is replete with sparse, Hawaiian-sounding vibrato guitar.

Jordan (formerly of Stuart’s Hammer) and Jimmy (of Robert Gordon’s Tuff Darts and Richard Hell and the Voidoids) are veterans of the early days at CBGB, but their groups didn’t go far enough. The Young Hegelians could have succeeded a few years back, according to Jordan, but now “the timing is perfect. I think a good pop song and a winning performance will always fit in. Every now and then you get a bad break; I mean there are some people who are really great that never get anywhere. But if you’re really good you’ll make records. And then if you have the right circumstances, you’ll go on to have a lot of people hear them”.

Robert Seidenberg, from an article
published in NY Talk, May 1982

Fate--as is often the case--displayed poor taste and judgment way back when, and this superb Young Hegelians music remained a relative secret. And it's taken 23 (!) years for it to be unleashed to the public. In that time, nothing (and everything) has changed: great pop music still must be able to stand up to repeated listening. And the Young Hegelians' songs do--still. – RS, 2005 Note