Seapony - Go With Me (2011)

Seapony's debut album Go with Me is a charmingly low-key affair built around simple but hooky songs, sticky sweet vocals, and chiming guitars. Pitched in the sweet spot between C-86-style fuzz pop and early-'90s American indie rock (though definitely more of the latter), they may not be doing anything new, but it doesn’t matter when the songs and sounds are so pleasing. Main songwriter Danny Rowland keeps things verse-chorus simple throughout, mixing up the tempos, varying the feel from song to song, and adding super-catchy guitar lines that stick in your head like barbed wire. Jen Weidl's vocals glide through the echoey mix like a lovestruck girl singing dreamily on a walk through the park, never overpowering but always a note-perfect match for the music. Paired with Ian Brewer's bubbling bass and the well-programmed beats of a trusty old drum machine, the sound of the album ends up the perfect blend of quiet and punchy, energetic and introspective. The songs that rock a little (like the bopping "Go Away" or the jumpy "Into the Sea") leap out of the speakers in a rush of guitars, the handful of ballads sway and swoon prettily with Weidl's voice reaching the optimum level of graceful melancholy. The rest of the album is made up of midtempo jangle pop that feels both out of time and timeless. Just like the best guitar pop. Go with Me sounds like you could file it between Velocity Girl and Small Factory and it would make perfect sense and, more importantly, there would be absolutely no drop-off in quality. Seapony is one of the best pop bands of 2011, and would have been one of the best in 1991, too.