Bang Up to Date With the Popinjays

There's one key element in the Popinjays' more appealing work: in order for their songs to be enjoyable, rather than sickening, there has to be something in their songwriting that gets past the utter cheesiness of their sound and production. On many of their releases, this actually works — they use kitsch, humor, and quirkiness to their advantage, and actually come out sounding rather charming — but Bang Up to Date never quite reaches this territory. The main problem is a tone that almost seems earnest (witness a hideously faithful rendition of the Beatles' "Rain") — meaning that while this collection might appeal to Popinjays' fans who realize the band is not entirely serious, it may meet with astoundingly negative reactions from those who aren't familiar with the band's better work.