On their 2010 album,
Bad Apples continue in the vein of their home label Seksound in Estonia -- low-key, shoegaze-tinged, and wistful pop/rock that is perfect for the season referred to in the album title. Perhaps not for nothing is the first song of
The Autumn People called "Love," both in terms of the general emotion and the band, though more like the
Bryan Maclean than the
Arthur Lee one; the airy demi-whisper of lead singer Rein Fuks and song lyrics about "monkeys and elephants" in a song called "In the Zoo" embrace a certain daydream quality as much as the music does. The other clear reference point lies in any number of 1980s-and-after indie pop albums from all over Europe, from
Antena and
the Pale Fountains to plenty of
Bad Apples contemporaries -- the kind of never-never-land sonic 1960s that never quite was and has been fetishized since. Songs like "Play Time" and "Sun Boy Rain Girl" feel like they should be soundtracking relaxed party scenes from, well, The Party, or some similar late-'60s playful romp. The end result is sweetly dreamy if sometimes one-note -- even a small change to the slower-paced "Mono Moon" feels notable as a result. There is also something to be said for "Hey Doctor" and its seemingly blasé lyrics about a physician office visit, except that the prescription suggested is a "magic pill" for love -- but of course. ~ Ned Raggett