I feel sorry for all those folks who were busy compiling their Best of 2019 lists too early to add in this album. Rorschached, out on Friday via One Weird Trick, is a batch of shimmering power-pop numbers, with each cut owing equal debts to, say, Jeff Lynne and the Elephant 6 collective.
"Relative Mind", the lead single here, chimes like every band that's been touched by Jon Brion, to use the simplest description I can think of, while the brighter "Signs Up and Down" infuses the big hooks with flourishes right out of a prog record. Miracle Sweepstakes make all of this sound entirely natural and unforced, of course, with none of these tunes overstaying its welcome at all. And for the numbers which are not quite straightforward power-pop, there are a few others that are a bit fuzzier, like opener "Forcefield", a composition which recalls Young Guy and The Foetals. Still, it's "Shoot the Blue" here that thoroughly charmed me. The cut is a swirling melange of hooks that wouldn't have sounded out of place on a Boo Radleys record. This one, and the yearning "Mary, Where Are You?", are bits of elegant chamber pop that recall everything from The Left Banke to Olivia Tremor Control.
And while lots of Rorschached is just like this, Miracle Sweepstakes veer closer towards contemporary indie-pop with "Memory Grain" and "Oh My", selections which recall recent releases from EZTV. I think what's on Rorschached is not only clever and well-constructed, but wildly tuneful, with nearly any cut here the sort of thing that rings in the ears and memory with ease. If the material lends itself to comparisons to other artists, count that as a plus too.
Rorschached is out on Friday via One Weird Trick.
More details on Miracle Sweepstakes via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Force Field PR]