What this sounds like is what it is: two indie-rock dudes with a yen for Weezer geeking out on various hues of ‘50s and ‘60s music. Amidst the loud, fuzzed guitar and quivering vocals, one can hear bits of doo wop, soul, early Simon and Garfunkel and the like. A novel idea, I guess, but most of it ultimately falls kind of flat and reeks of pretense. Every once in a while, though, they deliver a song like “Nothin’ to Be Done,” which is full of an achy beauty that stands in perfect contrast with the rest of what’s on here and would likely lose some of its luster if they had gone down that road instead and filled the release with songs in the same vein. In the end it feels like an interesting idea that falls short of the mark in execution.
–jimmy (Forest Park, no address)