On
Used to Yesterday
, their second album overall and first for
Slumberland
,
Smokescreens
take a step away from the noisy clatter of their debut and craft a sound that more artfully mixes the scrappy jangle of early
Flying Nun
bands, the sonic rush of the mid-'80s indie pop scene in the U.K., and the lyrically introspective Amerindie sound of the early '90s into a slick hybrid. When some punk energy carried over from guitarist
Corey Cunningham
's other band,
Terry Malts
and
Chris Rosi
's slacker-next-door vocals are added to short, snappy songs that latch onto the brain like Velcro, the mixture makes for a darn good album. It takes a while to really get going, as the melodies of the first couple songs fall just a little on the wrong side of simplicity, but once bassist
Jenny Moffett
steps up to the mike on the almost giddy "Jolly Jane," the ship rights and the rest is a noisy power pop delight. "Buddy" is a fine dreamgaze ballad that slows the tempo and lets a little melancholy seep into the proceedings, "Waiting for Summer" is a 12-string jangler with a hooky melody and a classic subject, "Fool Me" mines country-pop territory with some sad slide guitar, and "Falling Down" ends the album on a jaggedly epic note with some majestic guitars and a widescreen melody sung with gusto by
Rosi
Moffett
. It's an impressive back half of an album that shows the diversity and range
manage to deliver within a small set of guitar pop parameters. They also turn in a nice cover of "Steel Blue Skies" by the obscure '80s New Zealand band
Wasp Factory
, in the process giving listeners a new band to seek out after they're done spinning
. Which is something someone looking for a fresh take on the early
-meets-C-86 sound should seriously consider doing repeatedly. ~ Tim Sendra