The Pity List

The North Carolina band's second album stakes out much the same territory as the first: harmony pop/rock with an indie slant that rocks harder than much such stuff in the genre. (Question: Are there many power pop bands that make second albums that don't stake out much the same territory as the debut?) Perhaps there's more emphasis on fuzzy guitars this time around, but not to a great degree. They get into some mildly interesting lyrical spins, as in musing that it's a long way from "Florida to the Radio," whatever that may mean, or when they sing about wishing they had "Sodium Pentothal" as they can't be trusted, set to bludgeoning power chords. It's unsurprising that Chris Stamey produced this with the band, as it's guaranteed to appeal to fans of the Southern power pop sound, from Big Star and Stamey's old projects through the R.E.M.-esque bands of the 1980s and beyond. All those fuzzy guitars do tend to obscure the vocals and lyrics, whether or not that was an intentional decision. You could argue that some of the words are also fuzzy enough in their intention, with their drifting reflective-romantic inquisitions, that such arrangements are appropriate. The tracks with more acoustic guitar and space, like "I Was the One" and the closing "Get Out, Good Night," come as a refreshing contrast to the predominant tone of the disc.