Falling

Seapony's second album, Falling, takes over where its debut, Go with Me, left off. The drum machine from the first album seems to have been replaced by real drums most of the time, while Jen Weidl finds new melodies to curl her '60s teen-girl-pop-star voice around. Single-string guitar lines and minimalist guitar chords meet a throbbing bass that turns to a Smiths-like shimmer for "Follow." Guitars get stronger and clearer for "Be Alone," where the band settles on a sound that brings us all the way back to '80s indie pop influences, Young Marble Giants, and Marine Girls. "No One Will" throws in a nod to Joy Division, with a hook worthy of the aptly named Peter Hook before finding its own way. "See Me Cry" adds an acoustic guitar chug to a cheery-yet-sullen vibe redolent of The Clientele and other pop groups that have paid direct homage to the '60s by never complicating their approach beyond simple instrumentation and solid songcraft.