Review: The Apples in Stereo – Travellers in Space and Time (2010)
The elaborate and finely-tuned end of the music community, such as it is, tends to be populated by lifers. There are a handful of easily-recognizable names one could pull out; bands like Steely Dan, Boston, and ELO are made up of the kind of musicians who have those idiosyncratic tendencies that allow them to pore over their music. This kind of community is not populated with bands like The Apples In Stereo, because for the most part, you either have that tendency or you don’t. Yet, their newest would seem to defy that: the erstwhile lo-fi devotees had just released a greatest hits compilation cataloging a decade and a half’s worth of fuzz pop numbers, and then from under this Carl-Sagan-meets-M.C.-Escher cover, out comes Travellers in Space and Time. For its first five tracks, it’s the most aptly named album this year, perhaps as much so as A New World Record; it isn’t until “C.P.U.” that the band bears any real resemblance to its former self whatsoever.
When I first learned that John Dufilho, lead singer and guitarist for garage pop band The Deathray Davies, was playing drums for The Apples In Stereo, I felt a sense of strange comfort come over me. Prior to seeing his name credited for Travellers in Space and Time, he was something of a milk carton photo, not having released anything since 2005′s The Kick and the Snare (though the Davies have a new album coming this year, if their MySpace is to be believed). And to my surprise, I found he actually snatches the mic away for “Floating In Space,” which sounds right at home next to his own “Don’t Point at the Stoners:” “maybe it went right / look out and there’s no / atmosphere / no sign of life / it’s only us here.” Despite my enthusiasm for Dufilho’s presence on any project, it was really the early reports of the heavy ELO vibes that further morphed this latest Apples record from interest to enigma.
The Apples In Stereo’s “Hey Elevator,” from Travellers in Space and Time.
Even to a fault, Travellers in Space and Time is impeccably crafted. Melding the impossibly smooth feel of late 70s progressive pop with their upbeat, spongy roots results in more than just a few certifiable gems, but ultimately the album suffers from inconsistency. Though they were played out almost since the first time they graced a record (and certainly, even ten years ago, on Deathray’s oft-overlooked debut), Travellers has those annoying interludes; they’re like some power-pop equivalent of rap-record skits. They nearly always take the form of some horn-rimmed lab coat rattling off sci-fi techno babble, and frankly, at this point, they aren’t just meaningless drivel, they’re borderline irritating.
“Hey Elevator” and “Dance Floor” might be the most immediate tunes yet for 2010, and despite their collectively wistful disposition, they both inspire a pretty fine groove. “Dream About The Future” and “No Vacation” have upbeat sing-a-long moments aplenty, “Told You Once” crosses Lennon’s “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl” with the Bee Gees, and “It’s All Right” even reaches in the direction of prog-popsters Jellyfish. Where the record veers from its glossy outer-space sheen for “Dignified Dignitary,” it sticks out like a sore thumb, and beside that, it sports a dangerously similar vibe as The Rentals’ “Friends of P.” Similarly, the ska-lite horns of “No One In The World” threaten to overwhelm the already-saccharine song.
Largely, however, the record is filled with clever pop inventions (and re-inventions) that stick to your brain like gum to a picnic table. Travellers might be nothing more than an enjoyable pit stop on the way to less “frivolous” records, but I maintain that for some, it’ll be worth the time spent. Is it absolutely essential? Probably not. But is it fun to listen to? It depends — you familiar with Out of the Blue?
