The Minders - It's a Bright, Guilty World

The Minders released their debut album Hooray For Tuesday in 1998. Since then, everything they do is measured by how it lives up to that collection of songs; it’s such a perfect pop album that any band would have difficulty matching it. Certain tracks throughout their career have threatened to knock the triumphant, horn-blowing “Hooray For Tuesday” off of its pedestal. Older songs like “Build” and “Black Balloon” are The Minders at their most simple and pure and more recent songs like the striking “Young and With It” still resonate years later. The Minders have never had a problem writing a great pop song; they just never seem to be able to release a whole album’s worth of them. Their latest release, It’s a Bright, Guilty World, finds Martyn Leaper (The Minders’ premiere singer songwriter) at his most proficient and deliberate since HFT. The album’s overall sound is very similar to the style of other Elephant Six bands and offshoots such as the Apples In Stereo and the High Water Marks. These bands all tend to sound as if they’ve been swapping effects pedals. It's a Bright ,Guilty World includes classic, pop songs such as “Don’t You Stop” (featuring a stirring lead guitar line) and “Jenny” that are so catchy and delightful that you feel as if they’ve been playing in your head forever. Alongside these pop gems are other more introspective, thorough tracks that take their time materializing, like “In The Middle of Your Love” and “Remember, Remember”. With the inclusion of such songs it’s evident that Leaper is becoming a more well-rounded and sophisticated songwriter. Musically, lyrically, and intellectually The Minders are finally gaining the momentum and drive fans have been yearning for since the great and wonderful Hooray For Tuesday. [www.theminders.com]