The third full-length by Olympia, WA's
Lois Maffeo
finds the
singer-songwriter
with a new pair of musical partners,
Fugazi
drummer
Brendan Canty
on guitar and ex-
Tiger Trap
Heather Dunn
, but otherwise continuing the low-key, but never
lo-fi
, acoustic
twee pop
of the earlier
Butterfly Kiss
and
Strumpet
. The difference this time is that
Maffeo
's songwriting is sharper, with better melodies and cleverer lyrics. The opening
"Charles Atlas,"
a witty recasting of the wimp-turned-macho man ads from the comic books, is one of
's best songs, with a memorable hook and sing-along chorus. The other nine songs on this brief (under 30 minutes) album benefit from
's more self-assured vocals, which don't have the half-baked, flyaway quality that occasionally marred
Lois
' earlier records; songs like
"Transatlantic Telephone Call"
and the dreamy
"Wrestling an Angel"
sound more like
the Pretenders
or
Joni Mitchell
than
Young Marble Giants
the Softies
. Some of the other tracks sound a bit more alike than they were probably meant to, but
Bet the Sky
shows that
indie pop
can exhibit a modicum of skill and sophistication yet still be
twee
. ~ Stewart Mason