You Can Get There From Here

構成数 : 1枚
合計収録時間 : 00:29:09
Personnel: Stanley Martinez (vocals, guitar, viola); Eva Hannan (vocals); Troy Hewitt (guitar, piano, xylophone); Alexa Pantalone (saxophone, drums); Britta Leijonflycht (piano, organ, synthesizer). Audio Mixer: Mikey Young. Recording information: Electric Duck in San Francisco (04/2018). Rays' second album marks a major shift for the band, one that makes a world of difference. After releasing a debut that was woolly around the edges as it mixed scrappy Flying Nun-inspired guitar pop and jagged, lo-fi post-punk, You Can Get There from Here is a slight step in a different direction. They've ditched some of the punk in favor of a mid-'80s indie pop sound that would have sounded good wedged between classic Pastels and Dolly Mixture singles. There is a lighter, bouncier feel to most of the tracks and loads more jangle in the guitars, and the band added a synth and organ player to the lineup. Britta Leijonflycht's synth waves and organ fills add a new dimension to the arrangements. It almost feels like the work of a new band, except that the deadpan vocals of bassist Eva Hannan and the mopey warble of guitarist Stanley Martinez haven't changed much. Now it's clear just how much Martinez is inspired by the vocals of Stephen Pastel, especially on the slow-rolling "To the Fire" and the sweet-as-punch "Fallen Stars," which leads the album off on the right foot. Only a few songs near the end of the record have the angsty energy of their debut; mostly the band is content to blithely rock in Shop Assistants fashion ("The Garden"), get a little bit psych-poppy ("Yesterday's Faces"), strum softly in very introspective fashion ("Around the Town"), or crank out brightly hooky ("Earthquake") and big-hearted ("Before Sunrise") tunes that do an admirable job of measuring up to the work of their idols. Rays could have kept making records like their debut and that would have been just fine. For Rays to refine their sound like they did and come up with something classic-leaning and still full of spark and life was a more impressive feat, and fans of old-school, non-twee indie pop really owe it to themselves to seek out You Can Get There from Here. ~ Tim Sendra