 The
Loch Ness Mouse
"Key West" CD
Happy
Happy Birthday To Me
Genres: indie pop, twee pop
HHBTM
PO Box 1035
Panama City, FL 32402
Mar 24 - 30 2003 |
It
isn't hard to understand why Key West won Norway's Alarm Prize
for the Best Pop Album of 2002. In such a musical country, The
Loch Ness Mouse have managed to become national heroes, winning
over legions of fans with their brilliant indie pop sound. Key
West is their second album (following up their debut Flair for
Darjeeling), and though I haven't heard Flair, I can't
imagine it being any better than this. Soft and sugary just like we like 'em, the twelve songs on Key
West are all well-written, infectious numbers that are sure to
induce plenty of smiles to listeners. And while the majority of
the album is airy and light, the band also know how to inject some
energy into their music, as can be evidenced in tracks like "Quay
West" and the terrific "Jules Verne."
Since the main focus here is very poppy stuff, you can be sure that
there's plenty of that to be enjoyed. Tracks like "Marker
Number" and "In The City in the Morning" are amazingly
well-written tunes, each one more infectious than the stomach flu
(except double the fun!) "I Lost My Heart To Mary
Ann," meanwhile, is a very memorable ditty, while
"Adrift" is a bittersweet, semi-sorrowful song reminiscent
of the music of 60s bands of the The Mamas and the Papas
camp. Lots of this sixties theme can be heard throughout Key
West, with evidence of everyone from The Beatles to The
Lovin' Spoonful in the band's style.
Modern popsters will rejoice, classic pop fans will reminisce - if
pop's your game, go out and buy Key West
before you miss out.
91%
Fun Fact: Total number of times the
word "pop" was used in this review: six.
Matt Shimmer [Vitals:
11 songs, distributed by the
label, released 2002] |
