Love Cars

The gentle opening of "24," the leadoff track to the Minneapolis quartet's second LP, belies what follows. It's initially dreamy and a bit gauzy, but then grows into dense, yet gentle sheets of sound. It's a game plan that they tend to stick with throughout the CD, and execute with consistent success. They do vary it a bit - "Intimate Goodbye" picks up the pace some and they up the pop quotient by adding some jangle, and "Call Me Sometime, Best Friends Forever" has an understated Yo La Tengo meets the Cure flavour to it. It's unadulterated indie pop rock that'll appeal to the painfully shy and overly sensitive crowd in their parkas and Doc Martens with its oblique hooks, shifting textures and introspective lyrics. But there's still a lot for the rest of us to enjoy with the jangly and melodic bits contrasting with the loud, rockier bits in an always interesting way. There are some dandy harmonies throughout that nearly get lost in the layers of guitars. In the end, it's an understated little gem.