When I Pretend to Fall [Import]

Second album from Seattle-based quartet and their illustrious friends, including er Buck. There are people who believe that R.E.M. could afford a return to the time when they cooked up great records in a matter of weeks – and perhaps one such person is the guitarist in R.E.M. Helping out here on mandolin, er Buck’s inveterate extracurriar instincts have reaped real bounty. The Long Winters’ songwriter John Roderick is an unpolished gem in contemporary power-pop – imagine Matthew Sweet relocating the form of Girlfriend- and this album heaves with harmonic charm, be it the horn dappled Scared Straight, the Stonesy ramalama of Prom Night At Hater High or Cinnamon, a euphoric tale of romantic misadventure. The arrangements are peachy but never cloying, while the vocal interaction between Roderick and his co-conspirators never fails to cheer. Mawkish closer Nora aside, this is quality aural cheesecake that slides down real easy.