Remember Terry

Album review

After the Australian micro-supergroup TERRY released their first album, TERRY HQ, to much acclaim among those who like their pop music homey, spare, wry, and tuneful, they went on tour. When they were done touring, they started work on their next album, Remember Terry. That's the way bands used to do it: not taking time to swan about changing their sound or wasting effort by revamping their almost-already-perfect approach. Just write more songs and put them on tape. That's why so many band's second albums sound like continuations of their first, though often with a sudden drop-off in quality as they quickly run out of ideas. No worries about that with TERRY, as the quartet turn in a batch of songs just as hooky, simple, and witty as those on their debut album. They don't add much of anything new to their stripped-down sound, maybe a drum machine on a couple songs, and they stick to the mix of sing-song indie pop tunes, scrappy punk rave-ups, acoustic campfire ballads, and lo-fi chants that worked so well for them on their debut. But that's alright, because the combination of players and voices found among the members of TERRY is magical and shouldn't be tampered with or altered, and Remember Terry is basically the equal of TERRY HQ -- if not exactly so, then pretty darn close. Maybe it's lacking a song as flat out hooky as "Chitter Chatter," but the loping "Take Me to the City" isn't far off. Neither is the ramshackle charmer "The Colonel," which actually does introduce some synth play into the mix. Maybe it's missing a little bit of the thrill that came along with hearing TERRY for the first time, but there isn't much anyone can do about that. All the band can do is keep cranking out these kinds of smart and snappy pop songs an album at a time, hopefully for as long as possible.
© Tim Sendra /TiVo