Season of Sweets

Looking at the cover of the Modey Lemon's fourth album, Season of Sweets, is enough to make your fillings ache as multicolored hills of cheap candy lurk beneath a mountain of white sugar, with the band's name written into the crystal expanse in bright red syrup. It's an image of pure taste bud overkill, and of course overkill is just what the Modey Lemon are all about, so the picture fits them like a glove. A listen to Season of Sweets suggests this album was made under the influence of something more potent than a mere sugar buzz, but these nine tunes find the band in slightly better control of its psychedelic-informed garage rock bashing than usual, with a solid undertow of old-school hard rock driving the power trio heroics. Phil Boyd's over the top guitar wailing and Paul Quattrone's thunderous drumming remain the heart and soul of this band, with Jason Kirker's bass holding down just enough melody and rhythm to give the other two guys more room to get wild, but the growing presence of lo-fi keyboard overdubs and electronic accents reinforces the trippy side of the songs while emphasizing the melodies at the same time, a good trick given the Modey Lemon's fondness for wandering into the twilight zone. But the band's willingness to let its inner rock dude loose on "Become a Monk" and "Milk Moustache" wipes away most of the pretentious accents and Boyd's newly understandable vocals make this album sound more Blue Cheer than early Flaming Lips, an approach that suits the group well. The pushed-into-the-red rock moves of Season of Sweets may be over the top, but that's what the Modey Lemon are all about, and when they hit their stride all that sugar turns out to be more filling than you'd imagine.