Correct Behavior

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On their second full-length album, Correct Behavior, the indie pop duo Eternal Summers change a few things up from the start. First off, they are no longer a duo, having added a bass player to fill out the sound. Secondly, they handed over final mixing chores to the outside team of Alonzo Vargas and the Raveonettes' Sune Rose Wagner. The changes ensure two things. Instead of the slightly rambunctious, amateur feel of Silver, this album rocks mightily right from the beginning. The bass gives their spiky pop some punch, and the mix is loud and expansive with lead-off track "Millions" booming out of the speakers like a lost Breeders classic at twice the tempo with most of the record following suit accordingly. Guitarist Nicole Yun's vocals have a newfound power and she's not afraid to really belt it out and ride the electric wave the group creates. At first it's a little disconcerting, and you might find yourself lamenting the loss of the intimacy of the first album, but the songs are so good and delivered with such verve that resistance is futile. By the time they drop in a midtempo track five songs in (the lovely "It's Easy"), it's desperately needed for breath-catching purposes. The second half of the record is nearly as vigorous, with wiry New Wave ("Girls in the City") and sludgy noise pop ("Heaven and Hell") facing off against a couple more quiet songs (the very pretty "Good as You" and the lo-fi "Summerset" which ends the album bedroom-style) that prove Yun can still sing the quiet songs with a light touch. It's always a neat trick for a band that started off its life as a D.I.Y. proposition to make even a small step into the circle of hell that is professional rock & roll and not come off looking and sounding worse for having made the attempt. Eternal Summers dip a pinky toe into the swirling miasma of big-time indie rock on Correct Behavior and manage to emerge unscathed, and perhaps even better for having done so. It's an impressive statement of intent and an operational success, but more importantly than that, they made a really great indie pop record that sounds great and is loads of fun to listen to repeatedly.
© Tim Sendra /TiVo