Full Hand

前作『Toss Up』が素晴らしかったHoopsのメンバーKevin Krauterによるソロ2作目。
AOR～シティーポップなアレンジの楽曲からより軽快なシューゲイズ～ポップ・サウンドへと進化した傑作が完成。DIIVの新作とも呼応するかのような90'sグランジ/ギターポップへ傾倒したサウンドはメロディーセンスの塊といえる彼らしい作品へと仕上がっています。山下達郎や大貫妙子からの影響を感じさせるシティーポップなメロディーセンスと自身の90sグランジ/シューゲイザーからの影響を見事融合させた作品。
今作もBeach FossilsのDustin Payseurが主宰するレーベルBayonetからのリリース。

With his Bloomington band still actively recording, Hoops bassist Kevin Krauter presents his second solo set, Full Hand. Reminiscent of the wistful, AM radio-inspired lo-fi rock of Hoops without replicating it, Krauters music has tended to rely more heavily on keyboard textures and an even blurrier soft-rock vibe. An insular album that reflects on past struggles, the concept of growth, and the realization that there is rarely any resolution in life, its murky musicality combines electric, electronic, and acoustic timbres as well as mixed inspirations. The lead single from the album, Surprise opens with layers of drum-less strummed guitar, hazy keyboards, and noise before settling into a hazy, feedback-streaked space pop with barely intelligible lyrics, including Springing a trap, cause its testing my patience/What a surprise, it was all in my head. This kind of resigned rumination carries over into tracks like Piper (Its always the same), with its more spacious arrangement of bloopy synths and simple programmed drums. Seemingly inevitably by its arrival two-thirds of the way through the track list, the song adopts a dreamier quality with the addition of circular broken guitar chords and sustained, string-like synths. Expanding upon all of those elements is the slinky Green Eyes, which features a funkier, melodic bass line and shimmery organ tones as part of its cushiony atmosphere. The albums quirkiest moments include the relatively up-tempo instrumental interlude Intermission and polyrhythmic entries Kept and Treasure -- although those tracks do little to break the meditative flow of Full Hand. Sometimes intricate, but more of an album-length mood that a collection of memorable songs, its strangely well-suited for attentive headphone listening and for unwinding. ~ Marcy Donelson