Dryvetyme Onlyne Blogspot- Album Review
July 14th 2009
Being deemed “cute” can prove to be a death knell for any grown-up artist or band’s burgeoning career. You’re instantly pegged with other modifiers such as precious, charming, and bubble-gum, and then forced to work uphill to prove that you’re not some sort of joke. As appealing as one’s fresh, upbeat pop sound might be, music critics and fans are often unfortunately prejudiced against such sonic textures, considering only “serious” music to be of long-lasting worth. True, such practices are quite unfair, but look at it from the opposite angle: there’s a wealth of examples to bear in mind where fun, cutesy, novelty acts have captured our attention for an instant before passing away into the night.
This is the road that Summer Cats has to traverse on its debut full-length, Songs For Tuesdays. The happy-go-lucky Australian quintet definitely knows how to craft bright, smart, and shiny pop music, doing so with a great appreciation and awareness of musical history. With influences that rang from Stereolab and sour ‘80s pop to ‘50s bop and ‘60s twee garage pop, the band makes its mark with an intensely engaging over-the-top energy that makes me a bit reminiscent for the simpler, sweeter times in life.
Songs For Tuesdays is built upon a thick, spongy bed of bouncy, fun tempos, affable vocal melodies and harmonies, and uncomplicated pop song construction. Led by “In June,” “Wild Rice,” “Christopher Wren,” and “Lonely Planet,” sugary tunes that are barely three minutes in duration make for a familiar, friendly sonic palette from which Summer Cats paints.
Unfortunately, as evinced most notably with “Super,” “Maybe Pile,” “Camel Cords,” and “St. Tropez,” there are times when the “cutesy” really starts grating on the listener’s ears, especially as these tracks also feature the band’s most peculiar lyrical material.
If you could imagine a record made by Belle & Sebastian’s annoyingly, yet loveable, hyperactive baby sibling, you might have an idea of what Songs For Tuesdays inevitably sounds like. Seeing as how this outfit hails from a country with a substantial and much heralded beach culture, Summer Cats has certainly crafted a fun-loving album that would find a welcome home at any summertime beach party.
Dryvetyme online can be read here
No comments:
Post a Comment