Instruct: Classify the given review as either positive or negative.
Query: Uptown Magazine Review

If a band is "informed by the Beatles" these days it can mean anything from simplistically twee pop to pseudo-Sergeant Pepper-informed nostalgia. Detroit's Singles, however, have crafted a wonderful album full of choice Mersey Beat reference points that looks forward rather than back. There are plenty of girl-guy dynamics in the songs - a topic that naturally lends itself to the kind of powerful, straight-ahead pop that this band handles so effervescently. Track for track, Better Than Before employs the kind of singalong harmonies and driving guitar hooks that put it a mop-top ahead of any competition. Comparisons to the brilliance of The Rutles seem more appropriate in that The Singles weave just enough musical clues into their crafty songs to remind you that they have a pretty tight handle on their muse. File under: pure pop for now people.Jeff Monk