To the quartet’s credit, they don’t drive directly at the power-pop
that made their previous records stand out. The hooks and upbeat tempo
can be found (the opening and title tracks and “Lost Boys”), but
overall, the band’s clearly concerned with songwriting’s other internal
mechanisms: the almost-off-balance pitch of the keys and syncopated
rhythm of “Wicked Side” is the best example of the rethink. “Weightless
One,” “Drop Alcohol” and “Monster Closet” play with cadence too. The
shifting base, thanks to Andrew MacDonald on bass and Derek Ellis on
drums, does the heavy lifting on this album, propping up the pensive
tone, the sense of uncertainty in the lyrics.
This article appears in Sep 24-30, 2009.