Make Me Smile
WeePop!, 2008
...I've had this one on repeat for what seems like the past week, and probably is. First, some formalities: if you don't know WeePop! Records, you should! They are a UK-based imprint that serves up indie-pop, a genre whose definitions and boundaries tend to confound me. As a listener, I tend to like about half of what I hear that calls itself "indie-pop." WeePop have a brilliant little model: they release limited edition (used to be 120, now it's 160, I think) three-inch CDs (CD-Rs, technically) by bands they like, all done up in increasingly intricate hand-made packaging. Visit them at www.weepop.net. Buy their stuff. I do, for what it's worth.
So this one showed up on my doorstep last Saturday, and I've spun it dozens of times. More formalities: Let's Whisper is a side-project from Colin Clary and Dana Kaplan of New England indie-pop magnates The Smittens. I assumed that, because they are just a duo and The Smittens are a whole band, that this project would be a quieter, more stripped down, low-fi yin to The Smittens' yang. It's actually a curious reversal: The Smittens great new album The Coolest Thing About Love (buy it here) continues their winning streak of defiantly, joyously low-fi pop -- geeky, adorable, well-crafted and spontaneous in equal measure.
Make Me Smile is something else. Contrary to their duo shows (which is the only way I've seen them perform), there are bass and drums, along with some vocal and guitar overdubs, that make this much fuller than I anticipated. Also, it appears that much of it was recorded in an actual studio, and it has a rich, warm sound that's not really low-fi. And, after having forced my ears to dig for melodies under layers and layers of tape hiss with so many acts who think that low-fi recordings will make bad songs better, it's actually a welcomed vibe!
There are only 160, and you should really buy one now, because it is a genuinely wonderful, heartwarming effort that soars via all that is good about indie-pop and sidesteps all the genre's cliches. The writing is first-rate, starting with Dana's "Dylan Song," which to me is a incredibly thoughtful meditation on a subject (childbirth, I think) which too often leads to icky, sentimental songs. Colin's "Tender Circle" is another in what seems like Clary's endless supply of heartfelt, genuine, insightful love songs. Colin and Dana collaborate on the bittersweet audio postcard "Open Road" and the ridiculously sublime "When You Were Eating Ice Cream." I never thought I'd like a song with a refrain that went "nummy num num," but it's lodged in my head...and you know what, people do look cuter eating ice cream than they do eating steak. Bingo, gang!
The Smittens camp has seen a lot of action lately. There's also a split seven-inch with Tullycraft that you can only get at shows or via the Happy Happy Birthday to Me singles club. CDs, EPs, 45s...don't deprive yourself of any of it.
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