Ta Da

After spending many years playing guitar and singing in the Flying Nun-inspired jangle pop group Twerps, Julia McFarlane was ready for something very different when she struck out on her own. Working under the name J. McFarlane's Reality Guest, on Ta Da she forgoes many of the elements that made Twerps a beloved band but retains the qualities as a sensitive and thoughtful songwriter she exhibited with them. First, there are far fewer guitars here, and those that are, are muted instead of chiming. She trades them for vintage synths, saxophones, flute (as played by Ela Stiles), melodica, and drum machines. Secondly, the overall feel isn't jangly and it's barely poppy. She looks back to sparse and sometimes jagged post-punk groups like Young Marble Giants and Swell Maps for inspiration, framing her plaintive vocals with bedroom-cooked musical backing that fits the ruminative mood of the lyrics perfectly. Ta Da is a breakup record and McFarlane sounds full of questions and uncertainty on tracks like "What Has He Bought" and "Your Torturer" as she tries to make sense of a failed relationship. It's suitably fractured and off-putting music that manages to be catchy ("Do You Like What I'm Sayin'"), haunted ("Where Are You My Love?"), and beautiful ("Alien Ceremony"). The album's best song, "I Am a Toy," manages to be all those things at once while also sporting some seriously fat synth sounds. Ta Da isn't going to sound good to every Twerps fan who hears it -- the lack of jangle may be a deal breaker -- but anyone willing to follow her down the arty, post-punk path she's treading will likely be glad they did. McFarlane may have changed the sonic template, but the songcraft and real emotions are still there just as strong and impressive as ever. ~ Tim Sendra