Timewellspent is a studio album, and embodies every painstaking tape inch and frantic effect search that description suggests; it's the work of two dudes, but often has the saucer big eyes of
Pink Floyd or
the Polyphonic Spree. "Anyone to Be"'s halting vocals fade in on a Cobra hand-held phone as programmed drums shuffle in the back and a piano plinks halfheartedly. It sounds something like
Air might with a stronger indie pop influence. As such, it's gorgeous and addicting. "Probably" and "Hello" take a different tack. They're still polite to a point. But each features layered arrangements -- xylophones, vintage organ, muted trumpets, sweet guitar strums -- for a more deliberate pop sound. Think
Aluminum Group. It's a matter of taste which
Timewellspent you like better, the hazy or the haughtily sweet. But there's no questioning Casey Fundaro and Christopher Moll's abilities as pop craftsmen. Other highlights of the album include the brief, achy "Millionaire" ("I wanna be a movie star...or at least drive a fancy car") and the echoing big-sky twang of "Minor Poet." Best might be the late-album entry "Deora." Shimmery and succinct, it ties both sides of
Timewellspent to the back of a slow-moving Tokyo taxi; with neon reflecting in tears, it matches the melancholy detachment of Lost in Translation. ~ Johnny Loftus