Back in the day,
Scott Reynolds was a key member of one of the all-time great first-generation pop-punk acts,
All. His first album under his own name could not sound further from the speedily efficient three-chord rockers of that band, however: written and recorded in collaboration with producer
Dave Fridmann and
Flaming Lips multi-instrumentalist
Steven Drozd,
Adventure Boy is a quirky pop record with subtle psych and country touches.
Fridmann and
Drozd are known, separately and together, for favoring a hazy, diffuse sound based on slow, dreamy chord progressions, but the antic tunes on
Adventure Boy tend to speed along at a good clip, which keeps both men from slipping into their usual atmospheric bliss-out mode. Similarly, their contributions are what make
Adventure Boy such a musically varied, inventive, and engaging album. Ranging from a genuinely great little power pop number called "None of This Is Funny" through the winsome acoustic shuffle "The Boy Who Stole Your Heart" to the doomily atmospheric "Scaffold Lick,"
Adventure Boy moves through a variety of styles and emotions, held together by
Reynolds' smart, often funny lyrics and affable vocals.