Yahoo! Music Review

Released on 12/02/07
Label: Heavenly/EMI

Little by name, little by nature: this seven song mini-album by these much-tipped Californians was released last year to widespread acclaim. Now signed by Heavenly/EMI (home to the Magic Numbers, Ed Harcourt, Doves et al) they threaten to do the same on this side of the pond. In a nutshell, "Sing Song" is where lightweight pop meets heavyweight songcraft - replicating the inherent weediness of The Shins, with that band's ability to construct a PHD in bouncy melancholic guitar tunes.

That the entire affair is produced by original C86-er, David Newton of Wolverhampton's The Mighty Lemon Drops, is somehow quite fitting. This is an album for people who loved independent music when the word was synonymous with bands like The Wedding Present, Bogshed and The Pastels. More immediate comparisons will undoubtedly be made with The Magic Numbers, but opener "Let Them Bells Ring" appears to have been written by another, slightly more famous, EMI signing. Frontman Ed Reyes' tendency to squeeze too many words into one badly scanned verse is actually highly reminiscent of Robbie Williams. That and Britpop also-rans, The Bluetones.

Things improve immeasurably with "Lovers Who Uncover", a song seemingly built on nothing more than a succession of "hey's!" "yeah, yeah, yeah's!" and handclaps, and "Cha Cha Cha", where the combination of driving toytown drums and nursery organ finally gives the album a sense of purpose. Then, finally, with "High On A Hill", a magnificently fluid guitar riff introduces itself for three minutes of sonic perfection and "Sing Song" threatens to catch fire. A tune that just refuses to leave your head, you can imagine the high-fives all round when they recorded this one. In a parallel universe of limp-fringed young boys, it would be number one for years.

The party continues with "Oh, MJ!" and "Face The Facts", before concluding sweetly with "Heavy Hearts Brigade", a bubblegum rush of lemonade pop. All chiming harmonics and major key chord changes, it's a welcome tonic from the February mire. "We sought our future in rock & roll / Now we are locked outside its door / Are we ever gonna figure it out?" sings Reyes without a hint of sourness.

So, all in, this is a worthy mini album and one that will sit nicely next to copies of "Wincing The Night Away" and Neutral Milk Hotel's "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea". A more extended statement will be anticipated at some point in 2007, but for now, in the depths of midwinter, "Sing Song" contains at least two surefire feel-good hits of the summer.

    by Adam Webb