4 out of 5

Label: Knw-Yr-Own / K Records

Produced by: D+?

So I never did the Beat Happening thing, but main D+’er Bret Lunsford did, and apparently if you dug that group’s minimalist pop, you’d be on board for this band as well.  …Assuming you’re down with Lunsford’s atonal Kermit the Frog talk-sing, as that is – guaranteed – the first thing you’ll notice about D+.  And it’s absolutely make or break.  Obviously if it’s break, it’ll be the only thing you notice, but if you can make it past that, you’ll probably come around to the same mindset as m’self, of not being able to (or wanting to) hear these songs any other way.

If Lunsford’s lyrics were more pretentious, or perhaps the songs more direct, the compositions wouldn’t work.  But D+ is defined by its looseness, and the rhyming simplicity of the words, and these elements make for a comfy home for the rough-hewn vocals: just another oddball in a slightly odd band.  The simplicity is a bit misleading of course, given that guitar, bass, drums, a few chords, and no words over three syllables somehow equals almost an hour worth of tracks, almost all of them very strong and all of them absolutely unique… pointing to the experience of the musicians, able to craft something that balances an almost amateur bumbling with confidence in their pop and composition skills.  If you went into D+ cold, you’d be tapping your toe in no time, wondering how some kids who can’t play their instruments or sing are capable of writing such catchy tunes; then, later, finding out the Beat Happening history, it would all make sense.

Of course, some of this innocence is pushing it: Lunsford delivers dryly witty lines throughout, but occasionally dumb rhymes make the vibe a little bit too self-aware, and the a capella closer ‘Sing Me To Sleep’ is essentially two and half minutes of waiting for music to start… which never does.  But: rewind to when you were ready to toss the disc into the trash upon hearing Bret sing, and then consider how little these criticisms matter in the wake of the amount of replayability the disc offers.  That D+ can overcome aural obstacles which would sink other bands is an obvious testament to the power of songwriting, and how simplicity doesn’t have to mean repetitive or boring.