Garfields Birthday – More Sense Than Money (Pink Hedgehog)

Quickly following up Tea and Sympathy, its excellent compendium of early tracks, Garfields Birthday issues More Sense Than Money, a set of brand new tunes. Now firmly under the control of Felton brothers Simon (bass, vox) and Shane (guitar, engineering), the British quartet luxuriates in winsome melodies, 60s atmosphere and sentiments so sweet as to be almost syrupy, if not for the sincerity with which they’re delivered. “Wandering our way through the market with love on our mind,” Simon sings in “Cambridge” over a lovely melody for a track that brings to mind the early Bee Gees more than bad romantic poetry. (The Hollies and the Posies seem to be the band’s other major touchstones.) Besides, the cuts’ outer sugar often masks a sour undertone – cf. “Cool Your Jets,” “King Rat” (“What am I supposed to do when I’m killing you?”) and the gently nasty “Short Straw” (“If I can’t have you,” breathes Simon prettily, “I’ll have someone else”). But even if you pay little attention to the words, you can still be swept away by Garfields’ penchant for beguiling melodies and sweet sibling harmonies on the crunchy “Carry On Karaoke,” the psychedelic “Normality,” the garage-rocking “Better Things” and the soaring “Future Song.” With only one misstep – did “King Rat” really need Autotuned vocals? – More Sense Than Money is once again the kind of excellent record that leaves one wondering why Garfields Birthday aren’t legends in the power pop underground.

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