Ice Cream Hands fits neatly into the '90s power-pop revival, holding dear the values of guitar-pop bands from the
Beatles to the
Posies. Nevertheless, there's something different about their debut album
Memory Lane Traffic Jam (albiet a difference that only pop fiends will be able to spot).
Ice Cream Hands manages to stay faithful to pop conventions while developing their own identity -- and many of their peers, despite their craftsmanship, haven't been able to pull away from the pack. As children of the '80s, they came to power-pop through new wavers like
Marshall Crenshaw and jangle-pop, so there's a bit of a rootsy/folky underpinning to many of the songs.
Memory Lane Traffic Jam doesn't sound like a revival, however.
Ice Cream Hands peppers the album with enough sonic allusions, from the
Eric Carmen-esque "Winter's Tune" to the stilted funk of "Olive" to post-alternative guitar flourishes, to keep things interesting. But what it really boils down to is the songs themselves.
Charles Jenkins, the group's main songwriter, has a knack for constructing solid songs where hooks lead into new hooks instead of simply lying dormant. The songs are immediately catchy, but they grow stronger upon each listen -- a hallmark of a truly fine pop album, and it's all the more impressive when you take into consideration that
Memory Lane Traffic Jam is a debut. (Not Lame's American reissue of the original Australian release contains three bonus tracks -- "Miller," "Sobersides," "Visiting Girl" -- that are not on the original release.)