In my zeal to rave about the new album from Baltimore's Proper Nouns I'm liable to lapse into Spin-style hyperbole. And if this was another era, a writer for that mag would describe this band as sounding like Ben Folds singing for Chisel. That sounds almost impossible but that's what Spencer Compton has done here on Feel Free. If the local vibe wasn't strong enough since he's from Baltimore and his band sounds like Chisel, Spencer Compton's group scores extra points for having J. Robbins (Jawbox, Channels, Office of Future Plans) on mixing and recording duties on this one.
"Known Unknowns" unfolds on the back of peppy hooks and smart riffs, while "Situation Undone" adds the sort of crunchy riffs to the indie-pop that Ted Leo would envy. Elsewhere, things slow down a tiny bit on the winning "Redeeming Qualities" and "Post-Everything", a slacker anthem that lurches around like a holdover from a Pavement record. Still, for all that's so fresh and catchy here, Spencer Compton (along with Jon Birkholz and Joe Martin) consistently imbues this with both a sense of fun and a begrudging awareness of the cost of growing up. That whole last gasp of youth-vibe is what drives to so much of Feel Free, and it's what fuels the full range of charms of this wildly enjoyable record.
Feel Free is out on Friday via the link below to start.
More details on Proper Nouns via the official Facebook page.
[Photo: Micah E. Woods]