Bay Area musician R.E. Seraphin keeps cranking out the sort of power-pop that recalls earlier eras, when bands like The Bongos and Wire Train kept things chiming along. The tunes on his new EP, Swingshift, are just as bright, retaining a kind of charm that suggests those gems of the past, while sounding as fresh as anything you're going to hear from any of the genre stalwarts these days.
"Big Break" is sharp and clever, while "Playing House" is Tommy Keene-ish. The more elegant "Stuck in Reno" favors a more spacious approach. Fans of Slumberland Records acts may notice a stylistic similarity, and it might be down to members of Tony Molina and The Mantles being on this EP. It might also be something in the water out West, because Seraphin, on something like "The Virtue of Being Wrong", is edging himself into the same kind of territory as those SLR acts, as well as others like Chime School and The Umbrellas. And while some of this even sounds like The Clientele, the real suprises come near the end of the EP with covers of The Wipers ("I'll Be Around") and Television Personalities ("This Time There's No Happy Ending").
A prolific performer, R.E. Seraphin refines his craft with the seven cuts on Swingshift, and there's a lot to love here. This material is as catchy and riff-centered as classic American power-pop, and as smart as C86 stuff too.