The 1900s’ debut album Cold & Kind follows up last year’s EP Plume Delivery and delivers the same 60s-inspired boy-girl pop which borderlines on twee, but never crosses over into the sickeningly sweet. Their music is really lighthearted, fun, and catchy too.
Track two, “Georgia,” is a fun pop song with an encouraging “Jump for joy,/ Joy, joy” chorus that could make anyone crack a smile. The 1900s don’t just have one lead singer; they have three excellent lead singers, two female and one male, and sometimes their music—the title track for instance—is very reminiscent of other three lead singer bands like Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and also of Neil Young piano ballads on “No Delay.” Then there’s “City Water,” a beautiful country-tinged mid-tempo ballad that has Gram Parsons’ fingerprints all over it, and “Two Ways,” which is a perfect McCartney guitar pop jam. Halfway through the album is “Aculiplantar Dude,” the album’s rocker, and a song that has many qualities, until the great guitar- and vocal-driven ending, that are similar to pre-disco psychedelic Of Montreal.
This album, and the band in general, has an very innocent yet regretful quality that charms listeners and draws them in to stay. Released on Champaign’s own Parasol Records, and having toured around here many times, the 1900s are a local favorite, but this band and this album are easily headed for bigger things.
- No Delay
- Georgia
- When I Say Go [Free MP3 from Parasol]
- Cold & Kind
- City Water
- Aculiplantar Dude
- When We Lay Down
- Two Ways
- The Medium Way
- Supernatural
- Wool Of The Lamb
Rating: 6.8
Photo Credit: parasol.com