The New Fools – Mershmellow

You can preview and purchase this album on The New Fools’ BandCamp page.

“Mershmellow” is 8 songs, 29 minutes of tuneful and engaging music. The track that grabbed me on first listen and immediately found its way onto the playlist for the There Once Was A Note radio show was “I Got On A Train,” a fantastic, wistful, acoustic-based tale of aimless wandering that blossoms into a fantastic, distorted yet controlled guitar solo. The song is very well written and arranged, one that carries echoes of the past while sounding fresh and new.

Most of the songs follow an “acoustic with electric accents” framework, while “The House of (Having) Fun” adds lively Motown-ish horns. “John Candy Talking” kicks straight into a guitar solo and driving, anthemic power pop, with a sly and wonderful nod to Lou Reed’s Velvet Underground classic “I’m Waiting For The Man.”

What makes the album special is that all of the elements named above are present throughout, but no two songs follow an identical path. One of the hallmarks of solid songwriting is adding what needs to be added, leaving out everything that doesn’t belong, and on “Mershmellow,” the feeling is that each song is given its own special attention, its own breathing room. The lyrics are clever and well written, the lead and harmony vocals are very apt and pleasant, and the definition of each instrument in the mix is clear and dynamic. In short, it sounds great from start to finish, and I predict that you’ll share my enthusiasm on first listen.