Seconds

It's unfortunate that Seconds can so easily be summed up with a Lush-meets-Stereolab reference, because it does seem that the record adds something interesting to these conventions. Yes, the album's droning instrumentation alternately resembles Mars Audiac Quintet-era Stereolab, Emperor Tomato Ketchup-era Stereolab, and Split-era Lush, and the vocal arrangements are practically pulled straight from the interplay between Laeticia Sadier and Mary Hansen (or, alternately, Miki Berenyi and Emma Andersen), but Seely does a decent enough job with this sound that it's difficult to blame them for being too derivative. The only real problem presents itself when the band moves into smooth, danceable territory that seems somewhat hackneyed; there's always the sense that Seely can't create perfect new worlds of sound the way Stereolab can, but their attempts are about as interesting as those of fellow Lab followers Flowchart.