The new album from Spun Out, a project featuring members of NE-HI, features music that seems to owe so much to indie of the last few decades. There's little focused here, but at least Touch the Sound is fairly enjoyable. The album is out on Friday via Chicago's Shuga Records.
"Don't Act Down" is straightforward and spry, even as "Another House" feels like both Traffic and The Cars, no mean feat that. Spun Out are all over the place with this record, and to such an extent that it feels jarring as each song goes to the next, with some of the stylistic leaps really surprising. That said, the leaps are not entirely huge ones, and this all feels vaguely like a mix of indie tropes of the last few decades. "Running It Backwards" has a very early Eighties keyboard in it, but the tune is luckily fairly direct and not just an ironic throwback number, while closer "Plastic Comet" marries a faint glam vibe with a plaintive hook. It's the least distracting thing here, and an indication of the band's ability to make affecting music without being affected when doing it. I wish more of this album was like this, but I didn't entirely not enjoy Touch the Sound either.
Touch the Sound is out on Friday via Shuga Records.
More details on Spun Out via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Patrick Nagle]