Three albums in and this collaboration between Jason Smith and Kevin Boggs is still going strong, but then as “Halo”, the opener of nowherehouse kicks in, it is easy to see why this is the third album together in as many years…it’s a winning formula. Simple as that! But then you also have to factor in the band’s long and storied history, 20 years of shifting effortlessly across the musical map, delivering all sorts of sonic gems before this hook-up.
Today, we find the band in accessible indie territory (and that’s a pretty broad term), but more than that, it is an indie-ish sound finessed and fleshed out with all manner of more niche genres and clever musical moves, liminal sounds, and more underground styles.
“Domino Stars” runs its infectious chug-a-chug indie guitars through almost a Brit-pop groove, layering in dream-pop chime before shoegaze intensities join the fray. I will say at this point that if you are one of those people who need things put into neat pigeonholes and who follow tribal genre demarcations, you are going to hit this like a brick wall.
But for the more open-minded of us, it is a delight, not because it blends genres but because it ignores the idea altogether. And then all you need to do is take what’s coming and lap it up. “Little Lies” is power-pop for the new age, bouncing on a sixties beat whilst striding into the future. “Adrift Against The Lines” is a folk-infused waltz, one bolstered by rock-and-roll sonics. “Golden Hour Fade” pulls in some nostalgic psychedelica-pop sweetness, and the gentle lines and hushed voice of “Afterglow” is the perfect ending.
At this point, you are rechecking the album cover to make sure you didn’t miss that this is a best of… compilation or a greatest hits package. It isn’t, the songs are just that good.
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