Be What You Want is a striking debut for Sydney, Australia's
the Love-Tones, a trio led by singer/songwriter Matt Tow, that manages to keep its balance on that difficult path between the past and the present. Tow is clearly a major fan of '60s U.K. pop from
Revolver-era
Beatles to
the Move in their early days to the gossamer pop of
the Zombies to
David Bowie's pre-stardom mod phase (the anthemic, powerful opener "The Sound and the Fury" would have been a killer follow-up to
Bowie's 1966 single "Can't Help Thinking About Me"), but unlike a lot of his contemporaries, Tow knows the difference between homage and thievery. Think
Neil Finn or
Allen Clapp, not
Oasis. Songs like the dreamy neo-psychedelia of "Guiding Star" or the passionate title track are mature, literate pop with thoughtful, non-clichéd lyrics and sturdily memorable hooks.
Be What You Want is a small, intimate record that proves that it's no longer enough to simply churn out third-rate
Todd Rundgren and
Badfinger imitations in the pop underground. ~ Stewart Mason