If
Lunchbox
's album
Lunchbox Loves You
were an actual lunchbox, it would be a dented old
Archies
one with a couple of apples (in stereo) inside. Laffs aside, the group's first album in over a decade is a noisy bubblegum treat that starts off with the jangly, handclappy "Everybody Knows" and keeps going from one brightly colored genius pop song to the next in a rush of hooks, stuffed-to-the-gills arrangements, and breathless vocals. Now down to a duo of
Tim Brown
and
Donna McKean
, the band has set aside any
Stereolab
influence and most of its keyboards in favor of a straightforward, incredibly catchy sound built around
Brown
's layered, blown-out acoustic and electric guitars, with some understated horns, flutes, strings, and handclaps providing the occasional dash of color. It's a warm and inviting sound that's easy to love. Especially if you adored
Rocketship
but wish they would have written short, snappy tunes, or if you long for the days of scratchy, lo-fi bubblegum singles on
Elephant 6
or
Bus Stop
.
is that kind of record. Pick any track -- the British psych-influenced "Tom, What's Wrong?," the gently stomping "What You Don't Know Won't Hurt You," or the yearning jangler "Another Dancefloor" -- and it sounds like a heavenly pop hit beamed in from 1996 or so. Without a weak song in the bunch, it really is some kind of pocket pop masterpiece. The duo has such mastery of the lo-fi dynamics, injects so much joy into the performances, and writes such brilliant pop songs that it's not only a stunning comeback, it's like the mid-'90s classic album that never quite was. A small-scale classic, to be sure, but one that should be on the want list of anyone who ever owned an
Apples in Stereo
album, was a member of a chamber pop collective, or misses simple, pre-blogosphere indie pop with no agenda, only great songs. ~ Tim Sendra