Rating: *****
When you review music, sometimes you get the band's "one-sheet" along with the actual music you're supposed to be reviewing. Sometimes they're irreverent and self-deprecating, other times they're dry and boring, but at best they're entertaining and informative. Cincinnati's, New Sincerity Works one-sheet was the latter. If I was reviewing one-sheets instead of the album it would get an easy ****1/2. At one point it references a fan from North Carolina saying "The music is like hearing your best friend sing. And who wouldn't want to hear that?" Well, I for one have to listen to my best friend sing all the time and to be honest, I'd rather not.
That aside, it did manage to get me pretty stoked to listen to the album. It's called "Wonder Lust" and the cover art is pretty so that rules too.
But how does it sound? Let's fucking listen to it already, shall we?
Listen to "Wonder Lust" on Soundcloud below:
I'm immediately into the opening sound effects. I'm a sucker for sound effects. Really. I am. From there we get into some jangly guitar and I'm intrigued. I'm a sucker for jangly guitars. Really. I am. "I've Got You" is a really great opening track. It reminds me of Big Star. I fucking love Big Star. "Just Like Vapor" is next and it captures everything I love about every early 00's band ever. It's like if OK GO didn't suck. I'm hooked. "Love to Love the Love" is track three and it's more jangle. This one captures a Tom Petty feel that I just love. So far this is one of my favorite records of the year. "Midwest Reverie" is next and it's a little less whimsical. It's got an earnestness to it, that's a slight departure from the rest of the album. It works well here. Perfect time for a change of pace, actually. "Without Us" sounds like it was ripped directly off the "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" soundtrack and if you know me, you know that's high praise. Track six is "Find a Way Home" and it's melodic indie rock at it's absolute best. Hard to find anything not excellent on the record so far. "The Company We Keep" is next and it's like The Shins without the pretense. Another really solid track. Track eight brings us to the title track, "Wonder Lust". A perfect mix of power pop and folk-rock. It's summoning all the best things Wilco ever did. A perfect song. The penultimate track is "To Be Kissed Like That" and it's the LP's first proper ballad. This sound fits the band well. This one reminds me of early 90's Soul Asylum a bit. Amazing album. Can the last song fuck up the inevitable perfect score? Let's see. No. No it doesn't. "Hearts Transplanted" is a sweet duet, that ends up being a fitting end to what ended up being a pretty fucking perfect album."
Wow. Just an amazing album that I'll be listening to 1,000,000 more times and talking about twice as many times as that. Go get this. Now.
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