Indie-pop band finds moodier sound on new record
The optimistic sheen of 2003’s Gravity Gets Things Done gives way to a darker, wearier version of The Pale Pacific’s classic pop sound on the band’s second release. From the first track, “In the Sun Pt. 2,” the band moves slowly and deliberately. Songs begin and end with buzzes and absentminded noodling, quiet conversations play in the background. Atmospheric keyboards often edge out guitars, which have mutated from their former crisp, punchy selves into something subtler—at times fuzzy, at others soaring in reverb-soaked glory. The band lets songs breathe, a tact which works beautifully on numbers like “Tied to a Million Things.” It’s not until the fourth track, “Identity Theft,” that we feel sunshine. The bouncy “Your Parents’ House” recalls Badly Drawn Boy at his most buoyant, but the upbeat tracks are the exception to the rule. Urgency is a snapshot of a maturing band mastering the use of recording-studio-as-instrument and learning how to slow down.