5 out of 5

Label: Joyful Noise

Produced by: Jeff Tweedy

Measured and yet free, Finom (previously Homme, previously Ohmme) has remained – somehow, with a shifting approach album by album and constantly sidestepping expectations with any given melody – my “ideal” for their general kind of edged pop. Bands that mine a vaguely folky, melodic vibe, with harmonizing vocals and tendencies towards hummable choruses are as much a dime a dozen as anyother genre, but assuming that’s one of your music bags, where I normally get stuck in that scene is with group’s / individuals penchants for triteness, or maybe avoiding going too far afield of their vaguely folky, melodicness. Enter Finom’s Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart, whose somewhat atonal pairing of voices already creates a uniquely beautiful-but-discordant noise (think of “flat” singers like Anna Waronker, and give it some disarming lilt), then map that over a Chicago-influenced experimentalism as from mates Jeffy Tweedy (producing here) or some of the Tortoise clan, then route that (in my mind) through Chicago no-wave bastards who might’ve appeared on early Touch and Go or Skin Graft – a very particularly bite backing up the catchiest of melodies.

Across the years, this combination has become less in your face and more refined, but that almost makes it more effective: on Not God, you almost don’t realize things have gotten intense until they already are, your stomach dropping from the emotional swings as harmless tunes or lyrics add on layers of noise or build into near-shouts of some alternately bleak and hopeful thoughts. This holds up especially well because it is not an overused trick, and is in fact very sparing: most of this could be summarized as poppy Wilco territory, but Mr. Tweedy’s delicate but warm production is not crafting these tunes: there’s always an off moment; a place where traditional tracks would soar and Finom swerve, or mapping that boppy tune to a wicked creak of feedback or distorted guitar.

Lyrical themes take advantage of some purposeful sing-song nonsense to broach visuals that draw lines between the natural world and our behaviors, then pushing that line towards darker variants, only to generally reemerge with some sensibility that embraces both sides. As with the music, this seems “simple,” but hides depth within that.

I suppose I’ve been fearful of Finom turning into more traditional pop with every release, and the presence of Tweedy maybe egged that on a bit more, but: lest I forget Tweedy’s roots in rock, not to mention his impressive production credits; and certainly not forgetting how damn good of songwriters and performers Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart have been, and clearly continue to be.