Love Psychedelico
Abbot Kinney
Victor Entertainment (2010)
why you'll love it - interesting vocals. catchy, upbeat, and accessible
why you'll hate it - very typical mainstream love song pop
Before 10 days ago, I had no idea Love Psychedelico had another album in the pipeline. Not that I've paid much attention to them since their last album (2008's Golden Grapefruit) was a complete failure. I'm quite happy to find that Abbot Kinney is not only a proud return to quality, but the most consistent (if not best) album since their debut.
Keep in mind that by quality, I don't include originality. To this day, the debut album (The Greatest Hits), is still unlike the rest of their catalogue. It's a much darker, groovier album, where as the other albums have been vague upbeat pop. Vague upbeat pop that was on a steady decline until now. They haven't changed anything with their formula on Abbot Kinney; the songs just work. Most of their songs simply rely on a repeated guitar riff and/or catchy line. This time around, they have kicked up a dozen really great guitar riffs and 90% of catch-prases that aren't corny.
The only song on here I would skip is the hinted-at corny birthday song. The rest is very enjoyable and relaxed. This being the band's 10th anniversary, they were probably feeling a bit nostalgic. That would explain "Secret Crush" which aside from the title, sounds like something straight out of The Greatest Hits.
The album closes with a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" It's a good cover, but has been done many times before by others. That sums up Love Psychedelico pretty well actually. They play that kind of American 60's stoner-rock with much love and respect, but to little fanfare. That combination of talent + lack of any kind of polarization or daring risks in the music is a perfect mainstream hit. If they had any kind of stateside representation, they'd slot right in to a Grey's Anatomy soundtrack; and probably see quite a bit of success here.
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