Adding to his super-extensive discography, Boyracer’s Stewart Anderson joins Sarandon’s Crayola and David Nichols from Cannanes and Huon for an indie pop extravaganza spanning three continents (North America, Europe and Australia, respectively) and heavily rooted in the psychedelic garage rock of the second Nuggets box set.
Opening with the fuzzy, snaking guitar line of “Hey You,” a bona fide hip shaker complete with screeching Velvet Underground-style guitar solos, Songs fully delivers with four smart, memorable pop songs straight from the paisley underground. “Soap” offers some heady folk punk, where “A Bigger Splash” lays back for some lackadaisical summer fare complimented by a shuffling beat, hopping organ and distorted wah-wah guitar fills. “Sandpit” closes with an angry bit of sneering garage punk that perfectly encapsulates a young man’s frustration in the span of two minutes.
Maybe it’s a one-off, maybe it’s the beginning of a series of fruitful collaborations. Either way, Songs stands out as a high point in the collective discographies of those involved, making us all hope that there will be more of The Safe Distance in the future.
