A Def Needle in Tomorrow

Album review

Similar in mood and texture to their 1999 debut A Wave to Make Friends, the Comas' follow-up will find favor with those who found the prior album pleasing, without offering any notable advances or variations. It's not the junkie music of groups like Mazzy Star -- the pace isn't slow enough, the mood far lighter and sunnier -- but there are some similarities in the lazy, hazy mood and evocative yet unspecific lyrics. When they rock out with a quick-tempo, guitar-fueled indie pop tune with indecipherable intercom-textured vocals on "Wicked Elm," it sounds uncharacteristic and, frankly, not nearly as impressive as their usual modus operandi. No, their forte is tuneful, low-key indie pop, the arrangements considerably more multifaceted than much of their competition, sometimes employing deft violins and synthesizers. It's also nice when they get those male-female harmonies going; Andy Herod has a gentle, likable voice that's far better suited for this kind of thing than many a male half (or third) of such combinations. Sometimes the lo-fi/experimental side of their ambitions comes to the fore, as in the goofily careening electronic washes and burbles of "Free Burritos." Music for lazy Sunday afternoons.

© Richie Unterberger /TiVo