Monday, September 28, 2009

boomkat on bright penny

"Formerly known merely as Plush, Liam Hayes returns with his own name emblazoned across the sleeve of his new album, and as with Bright Penny's widely lauded predecessor, Fed, here's an album that's singularly out of step with its time. Far away from the modern predilection for all things lo-fi and what Psychedlic Horseshit wryly brand "shit-gaze", Bright Penny embraces lavish '70s easy listening-style arrangements, full of horns, multi-layered backing vocals, creamy basslines and an overall feeling of old-fashioned values resurrected without irony or cynicism. Although for some listeners the likes of 'So Much Music' might come a little too close to the bellbottom-wearing sub-Bacharach hit parade fillers of thirty years ago, there's plenty of evidence here to support the case that Hayes is something of a genius in the field of MOR (if such a thing is possible): the straight-faced, swinging pop magnificence of 'White Telescope' reveals a true studio craftsman at work."

boomkat

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