Fonda's third album,
Catching Up to the Future, is also their best and most realized record yet. Although it was recorded in bits and pieces, often by one member at a time, the album amazingly sounds like the work of a quintet playing together in the studio. The sound is mostly sunny guitar pop with the occasional cloudy ballad thrown in for balance. Vocalist Emily Cook has a rich style reminiscent of classic indie pop singers like Amelia Fletcher of
Heavenly and Miki Berenyi of
Lush. In fact, the band's sound is also very musically similar to
Lush and other bands of the early-'90s shoegaze/alternative scene (
Catherine Wheel,
Ride,
House of Love): a wall of gauzy guitars, vintage synths and organs, layered vocal harmonies, insistent but not up-front drums. Anyone who is nostalgic for that sound should find
Fonda to be a soothing balm. Soothing but not exciting, pleasant but not essential,
Fonda's music is much like that of their guitarist/producer
David Newton's former band,
the Mighty Lemon Drops. Sounds great, less filling. They never came up with the songs to really make their sound come alive. Same with
Fonda. Their songs pass by in a blur of similarity and amiability, making for fine background music but never doing much to engage the listener or make them drop everything and really listen. It could be a lot worse, and pleasant isn't all that bad a thing to be, but there are just so many bands out there playing with passion and imagination that it is hard to imagine anyone listening to
Catching Up to the Future more than once. ~ Tim Sendra