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Electric Soft Parade No Need To Feel Downhearted
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Electric Soft Parade’s first foray into the American music biz is one primed for the ears of the masses. With an LP chock full of songs that are as friendly on the ears as anything the group has ever produced, they are ready to cater to crowds far beyond the folks who’ve been buzzing about them since Holes In The Wall.
Track listing:
01 No Need To Be Downhearted (Part 1)
02 Life In The Back Seat
03 Woken By A Kiss
04 If That'S The Case, Then I Don'T Know
05 Shore Song / Surfacing
06 Misunderstanding
07 Secrets
08 Cold World / Starry Night #1
09 Have You Ever Felt Like It'S Too Late?
10 Come Back Inside
11 Appropriate Ending
12 No Need To Be Downhearted (Part 2)
No Need To Feel Downhearted is a bit like being ushered through two decades or so of musical ideas and getting wrapped up in all of the regalia and imagery that comes along with it. "If That's The Case, Then I Don't Know" is like the sharp edged love theme to those old summer movies that made you want to fall in love and ride a skateboard around the suburbs. The title track, which stops and starts the disc, thumps in and out like Jim O'Rourke whispering lyrics in Wayne Coyne's ear while Wayne slowly humps his leg in reciprocation. The whole thing creates an interesting blip infested acoustical bookend for a disc that alternates between full on rockers and blissed up sessions at a melodic bootcamp.
The White brother's post-depression crooner vocals are just suave enough to hold everything under wraps while smooth songcraft gets caught bedding down with studio twiddling and cool sonic exploration. The synths attack just as hard as the driven to chaos guitars, but melody overrides any straying. This is a blissful mess that keeps time and takes chances without letting any loose bits spill over. As collected and tidy as these songs are on disc, they have all the sounds of a monstrous live show.
It's refreshing to hear the performance of a band whose versatility doesn't come at the sacrifice of cohesion. Above all else, Electric Soft Parade packs their punch with a commanding sense of catchy rock that appeals to folks with a nostalgic reflex as much it does to tweens who don’t have much frame of reference beyond the Donnie Darko soundtrack.
