Guided Meditation

Album review

It's a shame Hurry's debut album, Guided Meditation, isn't a two-song single instead. If it were, it would be perfect because the first two tracks are the kind of shimmering power pop lightning bolts that don't come around very often. "Nothing to Say" is a jangling midtempo ballad with drop-dead beautiful vocal harmonies and some nice phaser gumming up the mix, just enough to keep it from being a carbon copy of the mid-'70s Rubinoos sound. "When I'm with You" sounds like a ringer for a Gerry Love track from Teenage Fanclub's peak years, sporting a sugar-sweet melody, a soaring lead vocal from the band's guiding force, Matthew Scottoline, and a gloriously simple guitar solo. The rest of the record is fine, filled as it is with lots of crunchy '90s guitar pop, nicely stacked guitar sounds, and warm melodies. Sometimes even close to great, like on the lilting "Telepathic," which sounds like a lost Fountains of Wayne near-classic. Guided Meditation is definitely an improvement sonically over their 2014 album; the songs are stronger, too. The problem is that no matter how good the bulk of the record is, it just doesn't reach the lofty heights the first two tracks seem to scale so effortlessly. Call it a champagne problem, one that more bands probably wish they had. It's not enough of an issue to dissuade power pop aficionados from giving the band and the album a shot. Odds are they will love those two tracks and like the rest, which is plenty good enough.
© Tim Sendra /TiVo