The new one from Jonny Kosmo offers up a blend of styles, with an overarching appreciation for both soul and indie-pop evident throughout. While the juxtaposition of genres is odd at times, Kosmo makes this work, at least when he plays it fairly straight. Pastry is not bad at all, frankly.
"Sugar on Top" and other cuts suggest the influence of bands as disparate as Broadcast and Luscious Jackson, but "Butterfly Handshake" is more unique. That one, one of the jauntier things here, is offset by the fine "Fool", Jonny's attempt to sound like Seventies soul. It's sort of a goof, but it's not too bad. I was sort of surprised at how well he does this, compared to folks like Alex Calder and Foxygen who've dabbled in similar forms with less success. Still, "All Strange Heroes" was my favorite cut here, especially since it took those Broadcast vibes and mixed them up with the kind of thing we heard on the last Childhood album. If the rest of Pastry had been like this cut, I'd had have been more happy.
That's a backhanded way of saying that Pastry works best when Kosmo doesn't seem to be taking the piss. When he sounds like he's a little bit sincere, this touches at the kind of white boy soul we heard in the very early Eighties. It's retro, but well done, and fairly engaging throughout. I went into this album with low expectations, even though I liked his last album, but came out happy with this record.
Pastry is out on Friday via Feeding Tube Records.
More details on Jonny Kosmo via the Facebook page.
[Photo: Joseph McMurray]