by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
There is still light to be found. Museyroom, the New Orleans via Brooklyn via Philly trio specialize in bringing light to their music and it turn, the listener. After last year's swirling and delightful psych pop odyssey, Pearly Whites, the band are back with another full length, and the only rules are there are no rules, all clichés aside. Sleight Of Hand, the band's sophomore album is bold and glistening, shifting in divergent directions from swooning 60's pop and retro R&B to manipulated art rock with West African rhythms and fuzzy bedroom pop. It feels something like a warm blanket or a toasty grilled cheese (you know, comfort food); and for the span of 30 minutes, all is well and fun has been restored.
Eclectic and vibrant, Museyroom continue to straddle the line between retro and futuristic, blending lush harmonies and classic Beatles-era psych pop with layered nuances and intricate melodies that stray closer to a perpetually sunny version of Stereolab or Olivia Tremor Control. Songs like "Manlike Boy" and "Grass Is Greener" are prime examples of past and present colliding, two songs that feel as though you've known them forever, reshaped into something once again exotic, the idea of "future pop" in its most natural state. At times jangly and serene ("Euphemism / Screendoors / Haystack"), cascading and sprawling ("Hunters Game"), and complex and jazzy ("Monograph"), Sleight Of Hand is forever wrapped in a sense of momentary bliss. "Day In/Day Out," the album's first single and finale is a non-stop stream of hooks stacked upon hooks, the band bending soul and dizzying pop together amid hypnotic chirps of guitars, steady hand claps, and dreamy harmonies. It's free of structure, free of confines. It's reason enough to immerse yourself in Sleight Of Hand.
Museyroom's Sleight Of Hand is out November 10th via Grind Select.