The Distance Between

Here is another charming, lightweight collection of psychedelic pop from people affiliated with Elephant 6. Fans of bands such as the Apples in Stereo and the Olivia Tremor Control may find The Distance Between whimsical and melodic, while those who dislike the aforementioned bands may find this album self-indulgent and precious. Listeners who fall in between these two camps are likely to find the album quite agreeable but somewhat short on original ideas and good new songs, particularly since the best songs (although not necessarily the best performances) on this album are the cover versions. One of the covers is "This Will Be Our Year," which was originally recorded by the Zombies; they seem to be one of the major influences on Great Lakes, who indicate on tracks such as "Now Is When" that they have probably listened to Odessey & Oracle a few times. Of course, The Distance Between isn't as good as that classic album, and nobody in Great Lakes has the vocal personality of Colin Blunstone, but at least they have good taste. Their cover of Mike Nesmith's "Some of Shelley's Blues" sounds peppier and less country-ish than the original, and most of the other tracks on this album are also rather sprightly, although "Conquistadors" would have benefited from a shorter running time. The lyrics seem to fit the band's sunshiny psychedelic haze as the band sings about "days of golden rays". There's not much depth here and the songs aren't necessarily going to lodge themselves in your brain after repeated listening, but it's still quite pleasant overall.