Nick Rattigan is using Current Joys to blend the thrills of power pop with the sleekness of synth pop. Lots of what's on his new album, Voyager, is full of bright surfaces, even if a DIY sensibility fuels what's here. The Secretly Canadian release is therefore easy to sink into and fairly easy to enjoy.
With lots of the tracks named after a classic film, Rattigan is being nearly too clever by half. Still, "Naked" punches above its weight class, and "Breaking the Waves" insinuates itself like something from Jim Carroll with his first drum machine. Elsewhere, things get more straightforward, like on "Calypso", one of the many selections here where the vocals recall both The Arcade Fire and The Killers. And wait until you hear the proto-Radiohead-isms of "Shivers".
Nick Rattigan has enough that's unique about his own approach to set himself off from those acts, but the truth is that there's something nearly mainstream about some of Voyager. But it works, in many ways, because of its neat blend of clean production and choppy hooks, and not in spite of the disconnect between those elements.
Voyager is out now via Secretly Canadian.
More details on Current Joys via the official Facebook page.
[Photo: Brooke Barone]