REVIEW: Velvet Crush, Free Expression (Bobsled)
- Wes Long
Any meaty hooked properly carved slab of melodic pop must bare comparisons to the ever-reigning rulers of that realm, The Beatles. While Velvet Crush rarely sounds much like the lads from Liverpool, they too are capable of churning out short bursts of no-cure-for-it infectious material seemingly at will.
Matthew Sweet, no stranger to concise well-crafted retro-ish pop, assists the Crush here in both performance and a bit of knob twisting from his home recording studio. Songs like "Kill Me Now" and "Worst Enemy" are tattooed with Sweet's pop sensibilities and with the exception of the vocals are nearly indiscernible from his own recordings.
The sumptuous and all too brief "Things Get Better," a Blackbird inspired ship with Simon & Garfunkle at its' helm, is quite magical. The country tinged "Heaven Knows" is reminiscent of Traveling Wilbury's era Tom Petty and features a handsome middle eight similar to the one in Rubber Soul's "I'm Looking Through You" in all the right ways. "Roman Candle" is Elliott Smith fine, cleverly written with breathy understated vocals not too dissimilar to the songs on last years gem XO. If those songs don't time warp you back to 1967 the incessantly throbbing chords of "Ballad of Yesteryear" will.
Free Expression, the band's fourth release, finds Velvet Crush in fine form. With contributions from Matthew Sweet and Gigolo Aunts' David Gibbs they effortlessly breathe fresh air into the classic sounds of rock's past. Part Byrds, part Big Star, all good.
