Andy Chase has always been the
George Harrison of
Ivy. Adam Schlesinger has
Fountains of Wayne to show off his pop songcraft muscles, and with her Europurr of a voice and those nouvelle vague looks, Dominique Durand is always going to be the trio's focal point. In
Ivy, Chase fades into the background almost by necessity, but his second album as the primary driving force behind
Brookville suggests that the singer/songwriter simply isn't the extroverted type. These 13 songs are quietly melodic midtempo reveries, lacking the Continental lounge feel of
Ivy's best work, but with a similarly effortless, unhurried feel. Even the cover of
The The's angsty "Slow Emotion Replay" (one of those '80s college radio nuggets that's at the heart of Chase's musical universe) is delivered in a breathy wisp of a voice over a polite musical backing that sounds like 16 Lovers Lane-era
Go-Betweens. Anyone who likes
Ivy (or the solo work of
James Iha and
Eric Matthews, both of whom guest here) will like
Brookville's stylish indie pop elegance, but
Life in the Shade is a descriptively titled album that never quite bothers to break a sweat. ~ Stewart Mason