If
Galaxie 500 had gotten together in Dunedin, New Zealand, instead of Cambridge, MA, they probably would have sounded something like
Uncle Wiggly. This New York City trio's mix of scrappy indie pop, delicate and nearly psychedelic reveries, and tightly-wound instrumentals should, by all logic, be too unfocused and eclectic to really work; but it's these last two elements of the group's sound that makes
Uncle Wiggly unique. The choppy "Yr. Hed" sounds like any of a dozen
Superchunk-influenced indie bands could have recorded it, while the dreamy "Mary's Crayons" and the twisty loud-soft dynamics and Kiwi-style rush of the centerpiece track, "Purple Threat," are far more substantial and unique.
Jump Back, Baby has better production values and a cleaner sound than the lo-fi efforts that preceded it, but the trio's songwriting and performance remain agreeably skewed, making the album an often intriguing mix of styles. ~ Stewart Mason