Cusacks - "More Songs From Vagabondia" cd (Insect Siren)
After wowing me with their Canadian rock-influenced (think Sloan & Thrush Hermit; two of my faves) single a couple years ago, the Cusacks are back with their second full-length. This time around, though, they've developed an almost entirely new sound - bouncy 60s-influenced pop, similar to the Masters Of The Hemisphere & the Princeton Reverbs Colonial. Heck, take the name off of it, and I'd believe it was the PRC, with similarities in the artwork as well as the music. Actually, the lyrics aren't too far removed either; with songs like "Boy With Hearts For Hands" and "Earthworms", the Cusacks maintain a playful mood which fits the music perfectly. I hesitate to liken this to Elephant 6 stuff, as even though they made an effort to fill out the 16 tracks with all sorts of instruments (trumpets, keyboards, and guitars and backing vocals galore), it doesn't sound like a big mess. Plus, there are no weird bits ruining the album - only songs, and good ones. And with 17 of 'em in 41½ minutes, it's needless to say that they're pretty short; only two songs last longer than 3 minutes. Many of the songs are piano-based (the Zombies-esque quarter-note style), and there are 12-strings all over this, which only makes it a hundred times better. This is definitely a very fun, enjoyable record from start to finish! MTQ=17/17