Rocket Summer - Calendar Days

Let's start with a little background information. The Rocket Summer is Bryce Avary. He wrote all the songs, he played all the instruments, and he's been working on it since he was 14 (he's 20 now). Not something I would have guessed at first listen. This album is overflowing with sugary pop, destined for a cheesy teen movie where the kids have just realized that everything is okay and a spontaneous dance party breaks out followed by the standard high school roadtrip with the windows down and the sun beating down. But is that a bad thing? Not at all. Unless of course you hate upbeat pop tunes. The majority of tracks all fall into that previously mentioned upbeat pop category, but there's the occasional exception like "She's My Baby" that is more of the pop ballad of the album. "What We Hate, We Make" is the fake-out pop ballad that slowly changes into the triumphant pop song (complete with accompanying childrens choir chorus). Overall it seems that Bryce Avary has got some excellent pop sensibilities when it comes to songwriting, and he's putting out a full-length at a good time: it's the cusp of summer, the slightly nasal but yet quite sincere singers is definetly on the rise, and feel-good music in general seems to be overtaking the hard rock alternative to boy band pop. [www.therocketsummer.com]