Beautiful, dynamic, energetic, melodic, haunting, classy, memorable.
Reviewer: Bruce Taylor
Nothing, by Don't Ask, is an audial treat. The music is crisp, professional and original. One song, My Heart Is Taken, is simply one of the most beautiful love ballads this listener has EVER heard. Others that are commanding in terms of fine audial artistry: Dream Away, My Memories, No One Said Love Was Easy. Do yourself a favor: GET IT! And after you listen to it, call up your local radio station and ask them why the hell they ain't playing these guys. Also, their first CD, There's A Monkey In My Grape sure ain't no slouch either. Better get 'em both. You won't be disappointed. Bruce Taylor

Reviewer: Allen Price for Victory Music
Don't Ask There's a Monkey in My Grape #DA52355, Wily Wombat Wecords, PO Box 9599 Seattle, WA 98109 One of the bands that can be found on www.mp3.com these days is Washington's own Don't Ask. Comprised of Todd Christoffel,who writes most of the group's material, Crispin Faget,guitar, and Doug Aslin,drums,with There's a Monkey in My Grape, Don't Ask offers a mix of acoustic and electric pop. Christoffel is a powerful and thoughtful lyricist,who creates vivid images, as can be found in tunes like "Highway's End":"In the cool sunshine,just a dream away,just around the bend, as the clouds drift past, down the highway." Faget offers some fine tunes as well, particularly his tale of the passing of childhood, and the trials of adulthood, "Can it be?" Aslin's percussion provides just the right amount of rhythm behind Faget's guitar. Founding members Christoffel and Faget have been playing together since the late 1980s and it shows. Together, their voices blend as though they were brothers. There's a Monkey in My Grape is an album that is fun, well produced, and shows the talents of these fine musicians. Great stuff! (Allen Price)

Reviewer: Tom Petersen  
(Local/Folk rock) DON'T ASK: NOTHING Wily Wombat Records (www.mp3.com/dontask) Available through CDBaby.com The Seattle band Don't Ask has delighted audiences by defying categorization. Nothing, its third release, is a richly listenable mix that will enchant fans on every niche along the folk and rock spectrum. This is not a band that can't make up its mind, however. Todd Christoffel, Crispin Faget, and Doug Aslin are mature musicians with deep roots and vast abilities and every minute of this CD is assured and precise. Front man and chief lyricist Christoffel skips along pop's dark side, enthusiastically singing about life's little emotional mishaps and disappointments. Faget creates fantastic textures with six- and twelve-string acoustics and electrics, while Aslin's drumming bucks modernity with some of the most tasteful and creative and honest stickwork heard in years. the clean, precise sound the band cultivates is especially captivating: in an age where the digital slickness of the big-label acts battles with the studied amateurism of the garage bands, it's downright thrilling to find a record where the musicianship can be enjoyed with the same intimacy and honesty as if the group were playing live in a bedroom. Don't Ask is a group that produces itself, and by eschewing studio trickery and treading but lightly on the effects pedal, every note rains upon the listener like drops of clear ice water. Nothing is an album made to play all the way through, and it stays interesting and engaging, with new messages emerging, play after play. (Tom Petersen)