By Stan Cierlitsky
Easy's new album Radical Innocence is out Friday, April 24 on A Turntable Friend. It is their third new album since reforming in 2010 and the first since 2014's Swimming With The Beast. It's hard to believe it's been 30 years since I first heard Easy's "He Brings the Honey". I was instantly in love with this band from that point on. Their debut album, Magic Seed is also one of those albums I still talk about as one of the most amazing bargain bin CDs ever (along with The High and Frank & Walters). It's a shame that it didn't take off back then, but hopefully it also got a lot of people to invest some time in seeking out their stuff.
Either way, they are still churning out music and I am still invested. Lead single "Crystal Waves" is clearly the pop standout from the album. If there ever was a perfect indie-pop radio station, this would be on heavy rotation. The press package for this release talks about similarities to Johnny Marr and The Smiths. I had never thought about that before, but yeah it does sound a bit like that. Maybe it's because Johan doesn’t remind me of Morrissey at all, but the music surely does echo that of Marr and crew.
What I find most interesting about this new album is that it has me rethinking about how I view Easy. Honestly, for this band it has always been about the singles. They have been my favorite Easy songs from "He Brings The Honey", to "Horoscope", to "Never Seen A Star", to "Song To Remember". I never used to get that deep into album tracks. With this album, I put it on while out hiking. I listened to this album 4 times straight through. I loved it and never got tired of it at all. And other than "Crystal Waves" there really isn't another stand-out single. But that really doesn't matter, it's just a great album.
There are times when the album makes me think of Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever and other times where they sound more like a more somber Wedding Present ("Memory Loss Revisionism And A Brighter Future"). And a lot of times they remind me of the other late Eighties/early Nineties band that resurfaced this year: Close Lobsters. Wow! Who would have thought that in 2020 we would be getting new albums from both of those bands? And Easy is starting to get a little more experimental on songs like the title-track here. Listten to "Wander Pts. I & II" by Close Lobsters for a similar experimental take by that band to see what I'm getting at. I think my favorite song on the new album is "Golden Birds". The beautiful keyboards and steady drums are such a nice backdrop to Johan's voice and the occasional guitar flourishes.
The album is only 8 tracks but still runs a solid 36 minutes. Considering you can pretty much listen to anything you want on streaming platforms this is definitely worth your time. It's funny that I remember shelling out like more than $20 to get my hands on the "In Black And White" single back in 1993 just to hear their Billy Joel cover, "Say Goodbye To Hollywood". That's a leap of faith and, by the way, it was worth it. One of my favorite covers.
Usually I end my reviews letting you know where the band will be playing. In this time of quarantines I am not sure when we will get to see any concerts again, but even if we could I know it would be a pipe-dream to have Easy here in the States. But just dream for a moment consider this: How about a double bill of Easy and Close Lobsters? That would be something.
Radical Innocence by Easy is out on Friday via A Turntable Friend Records.
More details on Easy via the band's official website, or via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Eyleen Kotyra]