Album Reviews

This Glasgow-based pop band, led by lead singer and songwriter Tracyanne Campbell produces breezy, tuneful string-driven pop confections bathed in near-cavernous reverb. So great is the reverb that what are real strings sound like synth ones. Oh, well.

Your brain’s made of Teflon if some of these tunes don’t stick to it after one or two plays. Do you remember Fairground Attraction? The La’s? It’s that kind of toe-tapping, happy stuff, except that underneath the cheer lurk lyrics more wistful and regretful than the chipper tunes let on. The opener, “Lloyd, I’m Ready to Be Heartbroken,” typifies the musical/lyrical dichotomy.

Campbell’s musical inspirations sound as if they run from Phil Spector to Leiber/Stoller, to Motown, while her wistful lyrics mirror early ‘60s girl group preoccupations, taken into more modern territory.

A pleasant diversion from some of the heavy stuff making the rounds, made more pleasing by the sensation that you’re reading over Tracyanne’s shoulders as she makes entries in her very personal diary. For older guys, that makes it feel semi-voyeuristic, which adds a whiff of unintended titillation.

I guess the drowning-in-reverb sound is what the band and producer Jari Haapalainen intended. I think it mucks it all up and detracts from the package. Still, I enjoy this refreshing LP and I hope they group records another with less “obscura” production values.

Merge includes code for onetime digital download to make iPod listening easy.