Dustin Reske, the mainman behind Rocketship, never needed to make another piece of music after 1996. That year's A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness, on Slumberland Records, was such an essential piece of American dream-pop that the importance of Rocketship was solidified then. Reske, and various players, continued to make music after that, of course, and the legend of the band grew with each sporadic release. Now, Thanks to You is about to drop, and it reminds again just how special the music of Dustin Reske remains.
"Under Streetlights Shadows" opens things with a number that seems less shoegaze and more C86, the vocals of Ellen Osborn sounding nearly like those of Amelia Fletcher. "I Just Can't Get Enough of You" is, however, full-on shoegaze, waves of noise rushing forward towards a listener, even as a plaintive keyboard figure plonks in the periphery of the tune. It's an epic cut and the kind of thing where the sheer busyness of the material elevates the simple, throwback pop here into something else entirely. "Outer Otherness" veers towards eletronica, while "What's the Use of Books" cribs fairly successfully from recent Belle & Sebastian and The Clientele efforts for its vibe. Reske here seems to be pursuing the same muse the younger Stephin Merritt chased in that there's something old fashioned about the forms of these cuts, but something entirely modern in their presentation as well.
Still, for all that, lots of fans of this band are going to be coming here for the sort of sugar blast the stuff on that 1996 classic album had. "Milk-Aisle Smiles", a hyper ramble, does fairly successfully echo stuff from A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness, while closer "I Don't Know Why I Still Love You" is percolating and a total head rush. Dustin Reske and the players here inject the material on Thanks to You with a variety of moods and styles. I think long-time fans will, like me, be a bit surprised at a few numbers on this one, but when listened to in total, this album works best as a showcase for the talents of Dustin Reske. It's sort of a vindication of the faith he earned from dream-pop devotees way back in 1996, and he's once again brought forth a truly immersive listening experience
Thanks to You will be out on Friday and more details can be found here
More information on Rocketship via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Rocketship Facebook page]