The music of John Andrews and the Yawns nods to the past. Heck, it points a big ol' finger at Nilsson and that era of stuff. But that's good, because the music here on Love for the Underdog deserves comparisons to that of earlier artists like the one-time Lennon drinking companion.
This new record is spacious and full of careful arrangements. At the heart of the tunes is the voice of John Andrews. The musician, formerly of site favorites Quilt, drives this new release into a special corner of the indie-pop world. "Never Go Away" has a loose catchiness to it, while the string-dappled "Fourth Wall" stands as a highlight here. A throwback charmer, this Andrews composition owes a whole lot to the yacht rock of the Seventies, but John's not interested in ironic appropriation. Like Fruit Bats, John Andrews and The Yawns are drawing inspiration from a certain brand of pop, though without being twerps about it. This is heartfelt stuff, with an elegance that's bracing. The languid "Starving Artist" is my favorite number here, with the strings having a High Llamas-ish vibe about them, though I'd reckon that Andrews probably is drawing more from Van Dyke Parks in his own mind.
Love for the Underdog seems like the sort of thing that should appeal to fans of Rufus Wainwright and Death Cab for Cutie, for example, with the selections here having enough indie trappings to keep things nimble, even while a serious sense of how to arrange mid-tempo rambles is clearly a strength of John Andrews. He's as smart as Lindsey Buckingham in terms of what he's aiming for here, and wonderfully open about his emotions, with closer "I Want to Believe" recalling Mind Games-era Lennon in a big, big way.
Love for the Underdog by John Andrews and The Yawns is out today on Woodsist.
[Photo: Woodsist]