The opening riffs and vocals of “20 Days and 20 Nights,” the first song on The Fresh and Onlys new album, Long Slow Dance, will undoubtedly call to mind 80s staples like The Cure and The Smiths. And though, it took me two listens to place it, I finally heard the placed the band my subconscious ear first detected, one who like the Fresh and Onlys holds a status as an underappreciated indie pop outfit—The Go-Betweens. Under recognized pop bands seem to be the for lead singer Tim Cohen, the man behind Feller Quentin, Black Fiction, and Magic Trick.
Flashes of other more contemporary indie-rock bands are sprinkled throughout. The album’s title track reminds me vaguely of the Shins, but mainly in melodic changes, and certainly not in a derivative way. The song possesses a cerebral sort of riffing on classic slow dance songs with its organ and guitar tone that sound like a sped up version of something by The Everly Brothers.
That classic guitar tone underlies many tracks on the album with twinkling solos as Cohen intones baritone vocals over the mix. “Dream Girls” flirts conceptually with classic pop song content and adds fresh dark humor: “Dream girls don’t know what they’re doing/ float around ruinin’ everything they touch/ Dream girls and the dreams they ruin/ they know how to do it, and they do it too much.” This is classic pop revitalized, and Cohen is a man after my own heart.
A series of later album cuts represent a more rocked-up version of the band that still balances between love-ballads, 80s pop, and contemporary indie-rock. “Euphoria” reflects those points of reference with swirling, dark pop and vocals that almost dissolve into the reverb as Cohen yells simply “Euphoriaaaaa.” Epic, penultimate track “Foolish Person” represents another example of this blend of sounds with thundering toms, echoing shouts, and unabashedly straightforward lyricism.
Simple, sweet closer “Wanna Do Right by You” recalls Jonathan Richman’s earnest love songs (and the vocals aren’t too far off either) with lyrics like “I wanna do right by you/ and not doing bad like I always do/ You might find a better man in the zoo.” This bow on the package clocks in at only a minute and a half and definitely seals the deal for me, but it does raise some perpetually important questions for me: why am I such a sucker for a short and simple pop song? Or better yet, why aren’t more music aficionados addicted to the two-minute pop format? Or perhaps more importantly for this review: why have you not yet heard Long Slow Dance by the Fresh and Onlys?
