REVIEW: Outrageous Cherry, Out There In the Dark (Del-Fi 2000)
- John Davidson
How can Out There In the Dark be one of the best albums of the 1999 when it sounds so 1965? It's something about the jangle of Byrdsian guitars. It's something about starched vocals with heavy reverb and harmonies that would impress the Hollies. It's something about minimal drums that whisper in the background. It's something about bittersweet hooks that stick hard. Simply put, Outrageous Cherry has hit the nostalgia jackpot without sounding stale.
As with recent bands like Brian Jonestown Massacre, Outrageous Cherry shows no fear of confronting their influences head on. Yet, rather than rote replication of the British Invasion, they pick up where groundbreakers like the Zombies left off, and push the album into the new millenium. To wit, their baroque pop sound is reminiscent of the Byrds with a decidedly '90s twist, as if some sort of My Bloody Valentine were backing up the Beach Boys. Still sound too dated for your indie leanings? Think of the psychedelic pop leanings of Yo La Tengo or even Wilco-esque bands that Outrageous Cherry has opened for.
Their fourth LP opens with the plaintive romp of "Georgie Don't You Know," a throwback with dry drums and way up front vocals that sets the modish mood. Like many pop greats of a bygone era, Outrageous Cherry lets their voices carry the hooks, as opposed to building the song on a catchy guitar or piano riff. Not that the instrumentation is invisible (check out the feedback break in "Eclipsed"), but it's a far cry from the three-chord foundation in much of modern rock. Also, as the album progresses, songs gradually become more dense, culminating with the full-on wigout guitarscape of "There's No Escape From the Infinite" an eleven-minute opus that faintly traces the happier footsteps of Sonic Youth.
Highlights run aplenty, from the lyrical wandering of "Where Do I Go When You Dream?" to the brief genius of "Corruptable," but really, Out There In the Dark is one long, contagious melody. Retro though it may be, it doesn't stoop to the worn out subjects of flower power, disco, or even the saccharine pop that floods Top 40 today. More brave than Hanson (where did they go, anyhow?), more catchy than Big Star, and more clothed than N'Sync, it's hummable music for anyone tired of uninspired radio schlock. If DelFi has more in the hole like Outrageous Cherry, the millenium looks quite promising indeed.
