4 out of 5

Label: Digital release?

Produced by: The Monolith, Nils Erickson, Scott Solter (recorded by)

note: I apparently forgot I reviewed this previously.  It’s interesting how listening to it on the back of the mentioned debut (as opposed to just what I recalled at the time of writing the other review) apparently changed my perception.

An incredible improvement over their already pretty great debut, Monolith’s followup finds the band securing their own delightful, twee groove as opposed to just fronting a sound that happened to congeal into satisfying pop songs.  That is: goal achieved of sounding like a band and not just an RIYL.

Sifting further into Belle and Sebastien pillow pop but maintaining the grounding of alt-90s that dog.ish crunch, Monolith position themselves at a peak of craft, their hook-making sensibilities already well established but now melded to harmonies and tracks that are no longer so ephemeral.  Interestingly, this is achieved by going more bare-bones: the production is still glossy, and it’s not that their debut was particularly busy, but it liked its strings and keys; here there’s very little to distract from the key elements of voice and guitar, bass, and drums.

And regarding the dual vocals of Bill Rousseau and Dahlia Gallin Ramirez, it’s another note of furthered synchronicity through simplification: there’s no longer the feeling that she writes pop and he writes rock: this is Monolith writing their best songs, and having the most appropriate voice front it.  Even with  less inter-song crossover – the simplification to which I refer – this feels more unified.

Where things still don’t quite make a lasting impression is on the lyrical front.  There are various interesting lines scattered about, the imagery just doesn’t quite congeal the way the music itself does.  The songs read happy but some of what’s said sounds sad or contemplative, and yet the juxtaposition doesn’t sell me: I emerge carefree and smiling.

But, considering the rest of my praise, that’s certainly not an outright bad thing.