This is it, round three of our year-end record round-up, our final one for the year. And it is definitely a strong finish. If round one was rocking and round two was retro then round three is a tad more out there and experimental. But oh-so listenable. But the expanse gives them a chance to hang out in so many different sonic playrooms. The results are a rocking good-time funk dancing acoustic emotional ballad roller coaster. The whole album could have just stayed in this lane.
Just looking for earworms? What hooks! What sonic artistry! But you will. So my first hit of their new album Levity was more than a bit jarring. But I loved it. What an interesting shift of musical emphasis from this band on this record, to a more daring, somewhat techno-experimental sound laid over solid rock and roll tunes. But new LP Easy Listening does not skimp on quality. This is one fine crew of melodic tunes, accent on poppy. Not for lack of trying.
So now let me say, this album is phenomenal piece of work. Songwriter and one-man band Joey Rubbish not his real name? What a majestic melody! But the material itself is more 90s indie poprock e. But so worth it β so many great acts, so many great tunes. And dropped in just in time for Photo fragment of 57 Chevy ad courtesy James Vaughn.
These acts know their influences and lean into them, heavily. But not without some creative licence. What happens when you bring a bona fide s indie legend into contact with a Spanish sunshine-pop hipster? Once upon a time I looked to artists like Matthew Sweet to deliver album after album of reliably poprocky hooks. Now I turn to Greg Pope. Over the course of now eight solo albums he just never lets me down, turning out absolutely fabulous hook-filled long-players.
But what is striking about this record, and perhaps a bit of a departure for Pope, is how the acoustic rhythm guitar is pushed to the top of the mix in so many of the songs here, in a very seventies way. Sometimes myths are true β this record proves you can believe in Greg Pope. What all this means is that while the record contains a mix of styles it still somehow establishes a constant mood.
