REVIEW: Future Bible Heroes, "Lonely Days" (Ryko/Slowriver)

- Joe Silva

As the karmic wheel of pop revolves, it's very easy to see where the Future Bible Heroes jumped on and jumped off again. With beatific pop vocals dunked in pool of shimmering synthesizers, FBH approximate a more savvy, indie version of something like...oh, the Dream Academy perhaps? Or maybe the long-defunct November Group with the dance element sheered off. A band like this knows full well that every now and again the workable combo of a good pop hook and a sentimental lyric buried deep in a nest of electronic gear can conjure that pleasant sense of romantic pop modernism that so many of us secretly pine for. And since it's clear that the Cocteau Twins are never going to compromise and provide the listener with the pop hook element of the formula, it's safe for the like of FBH's Stephin Merritt and Chris Ewen to fill the resulting gap.

By picking up much real estate on college radio, "Lonely Days" is the featured raison d'etre for this CD-5. The brimful of synths laid vertically atop one another create a mountain of sound where the angelic vocal an safely perch. The chorus is one of those strong moments that doesn't have a long half-life on indie airwaves before it's adopted by the commercial realm. Of the B-side's, vocalist Claudia Gonson's take on the old hit "Love is Blue" brings a respectably fresh vibe to a tune long ago cast (and rightly so) into K-Tel hell.

All told, this somewhat syrupy invite to what the rest of FBH may be about will work for most who's secret cache of OMD disks gets more turntable time than their other retro items.