album of the week: 6.2

Lemuria

Pebble

(2011)

why you'll love it - humble, relatable indie pop

why you'll hate it - victim of its own humility, no impressive or inspiring talent

No matter how hard it is to win an argument about this kind of thing, you actually don't need a good reason to enjoy the music you like. Your taste does need to be justified. it's a trend that didn't start with the internet; it only increased. If a song or band simply reminds you of something you like, if you think they're only funny, or even if you like their haircuts, that's reason enough. Artistic appreciation does not need a function.

So here we have Lemuria, a textbook example of falling through the cracks if I've ever seen one. Even in the nebulous genre of not pop-punk / not emo / not indie. I don't know what to call it, but it is a real scene. There are (or were ten years ago) a whole lot of bands influenced by Jimmy Eat World's reflective songwriting, Chisel's sly indie regurgitation of punk, and any other obscure emo band that only two people heard of. Lemuria is essentially just another nobody. But what these kind of bands lack in originality, they usually make up in character; and I gotta admit, after a few months, I sort of feel a kinship to Pebble.

I'm a huge Mystery Science Theater 3000 fan. While that is certainly a show you hardly need to try hard to justify, what takes it to the next level with their fans is a connection. It's a show that feels like your friends in the high school AV club are making it. The production - obviously, but also the fact that the entire cast were the writers of the show. Nothing was polished or hidden away. There was no difference between Joel Robinson and Joel Hodgston. You just loved Joel!

That's the same vibe I get with Pebble. It sounds like an album made by my friends. Nothing extraordinary, but charming in its normalcy. The opener, "Gravity" is hardly a song, but a great album intro. The pacing of the song and the spaces in between the notes played… it takes me back. It was exposed to so much of that nebulous "not" genre so much in my teenage years, it's enough never to want it again; but there is still a piece of me there. Lemuira is so warm and not pretentious with their material, it's hard for me to reject it at face value. And to be fair, there are a few really good pop moments of the album. "Pleaser" oozes with Rentals charm. Sheena Ozzella's bubbly delivery in "Wise People" and "Chautauqua County" is too sweet to turn down.

Pebble is as evocative as the title suggests, which is not much at all. It's also short, harmless, and charming *because* it's so plain. There is a place for this album, but like the many bands that have come before it, I have no fucking clue where that is.