The Automatic Door

Compared to the more modern-sounding albums that followed Anton Barbeau’s 2007 set The Automatic Door, these recordings have more attention paid to vintage tones and '60s recording styles. Still, that's not to say Barbeau is just rehashing old-guard psychedelia. “Staring at the Sun” opens by balancing bygone styles with a songwriting approach that owes equal inspiration to indie bands like The Olivia Tremor Control or Neutral Milk Hotel. The following ode to extra-sensory perception, “You Can Move a Mountain,” even starts with what sounds like a contemporary drum machine providing the beat. “Beyond the Valley of the Dolphins” pokes fun at the Russ Meyer film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls in its title, but the lyrics orbit around a romantic relationship that's hit a dead end. Barbeau’s harmonies here and throughout The Automatic Door resonate with a chemistry recalling John Lennon and George Harrison, save for the bombastic power pop of the outlandish “Poking Myself in the Eye to Spite My Finger,” where he’s accompanied by the lilting vocals of female singer Su Jordan.