Thursday, May 27, 2010

The Well Wishers - Post Modern Romantic (2010) - A brief evaluation

A little under two months ago I deluge of albums by a defunct and woefully overlook power pop aggregation dubbed the Spinning Jennies. Helmed by frontman Jeff Shelton, the band sputtered out shortly after the turn of the century, but soon thereafter he continued his act with the none-too-dissimilar Well Wishers. They (or perhaps more accurately he, considering Jeff performs virtually all instruments on here) are offering up their fifth album, Post Modern Romantic. With an admiration for such godhead luminaries as the Posies, Sugar, and for that matter most of the Not Lame Records roster, The Well Wishers have those almighty three chords squarely in their crosshairs, with a hook-savvy penchant for swiftly intermingling the crunch and jangle quotients. Those of you already following the trajectory of Jeff's endeavors will find that Post Modern doesn't deviate from the recipe I just laid out in the previous sentence, but devotees of the Well Wishers and Spinning Jennies aren't likely to take issue with that. Furthermore, for the uninitiated, this is as representative an album as any to jump aboard. A crankin' cover of The Nils 1985 punk artifact "Fountains" makes for a sweet surprise, amidst Jeff's ten originals. Buy PMR here or at CD Baby.

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