Athens, Ga. popsters offer mid-tempo pleasantries
Amidst Ben Folds-inflected piano rockers, Modern Skirt’s 2005 debut featured the charming “Pasadena,” a shuffling acoustic number that backed heartsick hopes with chiming group vocals. The lion’s share of their follow-up seizes on that formula, at its best holding steady between ’60s sunshine and ’90s alternative to spin out breezy jangle pop. The mid-tempo pleasantries do sometimes plod, however, even with their layered depth, and a melting-pot agreeability here is often an interest-losing weakness. All Of Us is invigorated midway through by “Face Down,” which sounds like a bizarro Weezer—in a world where Rivers Cuomo’s childhood obsession was more along the lines of Zombies than White Zombie. And as exhibited by the sly build of “Motorcade,” a campfire sing-along for the urban set (produced by R.E.M.’s Mike Mills), the Skirts are most captivating when they allow their songs to mature and surprise.
Listen to Modern Skirts’ “Soft Pedals” from All Of Us In Our Night on MySpace.