Having led the band Dallas for many years, gaining a quiet worldwide reputation among indie pop fans for their work, bandleader Holger Loodus' new project isn't an unfamiliar prospect.
Mirabilia's debut full-length, however, isn't all winsome breeziness, though a number of songs on
Log in Eye fit that description well enough, starting with the opening "TV Eyes" and including efforts like "Pretty Face," with its sweet start and
Cure-chiming guitars. But Loodus, whose low-key singing often belies the flow of the music as much as suits it, throws enough spikes into his songs, matched well by his new bandmates, to create a strong variety that helps
Log in Eye stand out more from the crowd. It helps that he's not afraid of going big in his sound, even if it's a matter of degrees -- a song like "Let It Shine" might not exactly be
Queen, for instance, but its burbling keyboard break and anthemic whooshes give it the same energetic kick as
Super Furry Animals achieve in their rockier numbers, while the shift in keys toward the conclusion of "Breeze" gives it more heft than expected. At the same time, though, where
Log in Eye might have its greatest impact is with the quieter songs, a number of which show a remarkable range beyond the standard gentilities of indie pop. A song like "Josephine on the Roof" is practically skeletal, for all that it's a ballad, almost like one of
Peter Jefferies' more moody piano numbers -- a feeling echoed on "Emancipated," though in that case without the piano. Meanwhile, the concluding "Pale Earth" wraps up the listen on a strange, unsettled note of dark country, not an expected move at all. ~ Ned Raggett