Pomegranates | Heaven

Modern Outsider  
By JONATHAN DONALDSON  |  May 29, 2012
2.5 2.5 Stars

pom1

Although the songs on Heaven might not be uniformly good, the Cincinnati-based Pomegranates bring the charm via killer guitar sounds, creative keyboards, and the girlish vocals of twin tenors Isaac Karns and Joey Cook (whose lighter-than-air musings buoy this collection). The title track is tons of silly pop fun, with cherubic vocals busting moves over scrawls of guitar and high-fructose church organ like an angel with a hot date. "Sisters" is an example of how great Pomegranates sound when they step on the distortion and crank up the jumbliness to near-Feelies levels. Heaven also does a decent job of showing Pomegranates' softer side; "Dream" is a completely respectable ballad. Likewise, "Something Everybody Wants" makes for a nice little awe-struck acorn of a song, complete with sci-fi keyboard accompaniment that harkens to the PBS theme for the late-'80s astronomy show Star Hustler. Aside from the highlights, though, other cuts here fall short of album quality, especially the last three selections, which are paint-by-number displays of chops and over-seriousness. Four musicians playing competent indie-pop/post-punk with occasional bursts of triumph might be a nice day at the park, but it's not sweet Elysian Fields.

  Topics: CD Reviews , Music, Arts, CD reviews,  More more >
| More


Most Popular
ARTICLES BY JONATHAN DONALDSON
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   THE UNIFIED MELODY OF SLOWDIM  |  March 20, 2013
    Slowdim drink wine with pizza. It's true. I was there.
  •   THE MARY ONETTES | HIT THE WAVES  |  March 13, 2013
    Hit the Waves is so heartfelt as a pastiche of '80s alternative music that it almost muscles its way into being brilliant.
  •   THE MODERN RETRO OF JESSE DEE  |  March 05, 2013
    On his new record On My Mind/In My Heart , the question is not if Jesse Dee can step up to the challenge of making authentic soul and R&B music in 2013, but rather how he goes about it.
  •   TAME IMPALA’S NEW SURROUND SOUND  |  March 08, 2013
    Whether it's Bradford Cox with Deerhunter, or Dan Snaith with Caribou, or Kevin Parker with Tame Impala, there must be something with this trend in sonic auteurs with cervine band names.
  •   ANIMAL COLLECTIVE BRACE FOR SUCCESS  |  February 26, 2013
    "It seems like a challenge to make something that you have to pay a lot of attention to," says Josh Dibbs.

 See all articles by: JONATHAN DONALDSON