Indie pop survivor Jarid del Dio finally secures solid label representation with Parasol's release of
Snow Tires, his fifth album under various monikers and incarnations.
Neutral Milk Hotel is still a big influence here, as del Dio's songs dawdle and coalesce with a similar disregard for structure, but with an uncanny knack for plaintive melodies and weirdly insightful turns of phrase. "All over town," he begins on "Casserole," "The flat-chested trailer brides/Their braces and bottle caps jangle like tambourines." And we can see del Dio wandering through the connecting yards and hanging laundry, dragging his white elephant of a failed relationship on a long fraying leash. "I Leave Stones Unturned" is a sparkly, bittersweet pop song driven by scratchy electric guitar, warm electric piano, and Roy Ewing's punchy drums. Its chorus is reprised offhandedly at the start of "I Knock Things I Haven't Tried," a quieter number guided by acoustic guitar, subtle synths, and what sounds like a sample of air brakes on a city bus. It's another side to the same argument, like the whispers after the screams. Maybe its del Dio's warbly,
Neil Young-as-whiny-barista vocal, but
Unbunny can at times suggest a sparer version of
Mercury Rev, or even
Modest Mouse. There's a similar sense of a psychological struggle twisting behind the tossed-off phrases and pop culture pipe bombs; the music is quieter, but informed with those same qualities of squinty indie pop. The gentle "FM" is a big, big standout, beginning with a kid's chorus harmonizing like a Lilliputian version of
the Polyphonic Spree, and "Pink Lemonade" really plays up that
Neil Young-ness, offering dusty acoustic strums and shuffling drums tickled by twangy guitar fuzz. Fans of smart stuff like
Elf Power and
Clem Snide, take note. ~ Johnny Loftus