Grecian Urn
Taxi Gauche, 2021
9/10
The Los Angeles rockers Adult Books return with a sophomore album, where Nick Winfrey, Sina Salessi and Alex Galindo reside on the darker side of pop while injecting plenty of punk, New Wave and even goth tendencies into their hook heavy song craft.
“Innocence” starts the listen with a raw yet dreamy delivery of thumping drums and angular guitar work as light flashes of synth enter the shoegaze influenced setting, and “Receiver” continues the formula with a melodic version of post-punk that often hints towards the ‘80s and across the pond.
Residing near the middle, the scrappy, driving “Holiday” flows with some New Wave nods alongside gritty dynamics, while “Florence” offers a more firm approach that’s a bit thicker in texture as dual gender vocals resonate long after the song ends. “Apologies”, one of the standout tracks, then dances around brighter melodies in a way that will remind you of your favorite songs by The Cure, but on prozac.
Landing close to the end, “Adriatics” resides somewhere amid alt-rock territory with its sonically buzzing formula, and “Sparrows On The Razor Wire” exits the listen initially bare, even pretty, before erupting into an anthemic and blistering display of power and melody.
If bands like The Smiths, New Order or Mission Of Burma have consumed any significant time in your life, well, you’re probably going to be a big fan of Adult Books, too, as their creative prowess runs a similar course, and you won’t hear a single complaint from me about that.
Travels well with: MIY- Work; Cosse- Nothing Belongs To Anything