The lead track on the new R.E. Seraphin LP is the closest you're going to get to the late Tommy Keene without putting on one of his own records. It's fab. Fool's Mate is all good. And it may not be a stretch to say that this is the most consistent album to date from the Californian.
Drummer Daniel Pearce (The Reds, Pinks and Purples) gives "Argument Stand" the kind of buoyant hook that takes this material to a new level for Seraphin, even as "Expendable Man" hits a sweet spot not unlike that mapped out by area peers Chime School. And it doesn't hurt that that band's bassist is on this record too. Still, this is R.E. Seraphin's show and his delivery and material are so on point this time out that I really feel like this is likely to earn him a whole new set of fans. "Clock Without Hands", a real highlight here, is all Let's Active hooks, a mix of power pop styles and a reverent, yet playful appropriation of past college rock styles. It's excellent, in other words.
While so many bands in the Bay Area are going for jangle-pop bliss, R.E. Seraphin is perfecting a more robust attack. The stuff here on Fool's Mate has heft, enough to suggest a direct line be drawn between this and pioneers like The Plimsouls and The Bongos. "Fall" is a good example of what I'm talking about. Elegantly composed, it is, like many tracks here, punchy too. And it helps that it's catchy, and not just an updating of styles. With Fool's Mate, R.E. Seraphin has hit a kind of peak, and the tunes here are as fresh as those of D.C.'s Dot Dash, to use another comparison point from this side of the country.
Fool's Mate by R.E. Seraphin is out now.
[Photo: R.E. Seraphin]