Radar Bros. - "Eight"

I suppose you could say that a lot of my favorite music has a timeless quality to it, at least a post-1970 something timelessness. Bands that get caught up in trends in style or production generally don't age well, and there's nothing worse than a poorly aged band.

But sometimes there's nothing better.

The Los Angeles based (quin/sep not sure which number it is currently)-tet Radar Bros (originally conceived by leader Jim Putnam in 1993 as a Super Nintendo game that would combine Super Mario-esque adventures with thorough tutorials in aircraft detection techniques before a stern "what the hell are you thinking?" from friends) have released 7 albums of dreamy, melodic guitar driven music that has been consistently well crafted. At times there's a nice Jesus and Mary Chain-ish 80s college rock vibe, at others a less self-conscious Pavement-able off-kilter guitar jangle, but it never really feels like "throwback" music. (Can a band that's been around for 20 years make "throwback" music to 20 years ago in the first place? Isn't that just allowed by the terms of being a band for a certain period of time? Ask me later.) Anyhow, the fellas are back with Eight, released this week on Merge Records.

Eight is their seventh album and it contains eleven songs. That's a sentence that almost makes no sense. While it contains a generally dreamy vibe, the album doesn't just drift by as every song is distinct enough on its own terms. This record doesn't reinvent the idea of dreamy guitar rock, but even if a riff recalls something else (I kind of want to sing "Tiny Dancer" to closing song "Horse Down" but, Jim and the gang just have so many tasty harmonies and nice textures that I can't bring myself to do it!) the Brothers Radar know how to craft a good tune of their own around a standard chord progression. There are nice jolts of energy, particularly second song "Reflections," but by and large the tempo is moderate and the songs go down easy. My favorite of the moment is "Couch," which has a very organic band feel with call and response vocals, and a very hooky chorus that recalls, of all things, "Ride the Cliche" by Stone Temple Pilots. That's a good thing though, that's an STP song that doesn't sound like brain dead Sasquatch-rock or a sitcom theme (kind of their somewhat impressive yin/yang of sucking)... when they actually just wrote good songs. Don't worry about it though, just listen to "Couch." It rules.

Overall, Eight is a solid record and a nice addition to the catalog of Radar Bros. I'm not sure if they're doing much touring outside of California, and honestly they're not the most exciting band to see live, but Eight is definitely a nice record to put on the turntable and enjoy a night in.

And what an enjoyable night in it would be.

Get it from Merge - they deserve your business!