Make Love to You

One possible problem with American indie pop is its occasional tendency to move too far into cutesy territory; it's a rare band that can be simplistic and thoroughly pop-oriented without seeming as if they're trying to sound that way. Take, for instance, Pam Berry's primary post-Black Tambourine projects: Glo-Worm is only likely to appeal to fans of rather twee indie pop, but the Castaway Stones manage to accomplish the same thing the Pastels do, churning out sunny, simple pop songs without ever sounding like this approach is a conscious pose. Make Love to You does an excellent job of this; its tracks tend more toward dreaminess than cutsiness, despite that fact that they're built from immaculately simple constructions of clean, jangling guitars, clear bass sounds, and minimal drums (all in the great C-86 and Sarah Records traditions). Most of the appeal comes from Pam Berry's idiosyncratic sense of vocal melody and harmony, which is as keen here as on any of the band's previous releases. Beneath that lies a traditionally indie pop approach to instrumentation and production that anyone from the Heartworms to Heavenly to Holiday could be proud of, and a resulting album that's absolutely bound to be appreciated by pop-kids the world over.