Since their return to the world of indie pop in 2014,
Lunchbox
have delivered one knock-out blow after another starting with the bubblegum-sticky
Lunchbox Loves You
, then the slightly more mod and psychedelic
After School Special
, and now this scuffed-up gem. On
Pop and Circumstance
, they add more soul music influences to the template, tighten up the rhythms, stir in just the right amount of sugar, and basically make exactly the record anyone who fell in love with the previous two would want to hear. It's lo-fi, it's super hooky, it's loaded up with zippy arrangements, and basically the whole band play and sing like they are all having the best time of their lives. The effusiveness and joy bubbles over like soda pop, and it's near impossible not to get swept up in the mood. Tracks like ¿Dinner for Two,¿ ¿Summer's Calling,¿ and ¿Time Won't Lie¿ flash past in a clatter of overloaded power chords, piercing jangle, swooning vocal harmonies, cymbal hiss, and zigzagging bass lines, leaving the listener breathless. A few songs dial down the thrills in favor of a slightly more subtle approach. The folk-mod ballad ¿New Year¿ shows off a sadder side of the band as the vocals dip into melancholy and the horns ring out a mournful refrain; "Is This Real?" sneaks in some synth strings and a healthy dose of
Rocketship
-esque wistfulness; ¿Don't Wait Too Long¿ melds together a slinky
Brenton Wood
-style groove and some ska horns; and ¿All Around the World¿ forsakes the bass and drums almost entirely as the guitars stack up in mighty layers of jangle and feedback, and the vocals meet in lovely, unschooled harmonies. The energy and enthusiasm on display reaches such a high level, the songs are so sing-along good, and the sound is so perfectly AM radio punchy that it's hard not to rate this the band's best work. It's hard not to rate it some of the best kitchen-sink indie pop to come down the pike since the glory days of
Elephant 6
. Depending on one's tolerance for sonic horseplay and meandering psychedelia -- of which there is exactly zero on this album -- there's a strong case that this album is what bands like
Apples in Stereo
could have sounded like if they'd stayed focused at all times. Regardless of the record -- and band's-- place in the imaginary rankings, this is undeniably first-rate, highly excitable, and catchy-as-heck pop music for those who like it over-caffeinated and happily sincere. ~ Tim Sendra