The Screwdrivers - Shape of a Bird in Transit

There’s rarely anything new under the sun in rock music. There’s just so many chord progressions and notes to choose from. Adventurous music listeners usually are looking for the next big thing and don’t want to be bothered with stuff that’s already been done, more or less, ad infinitum. But after listening to The Screwdrivers’ Shape of a Bird in Transit, maybe we’ve all been jumping these new trains too quickly and not simply enjoying the beauty of music that’s a bit more tried and true. The Screwdrivers are a four-piece from Hartford, CT and they play basic, slightly jangly, well-crafted pop. You won’t be blown away by any way-out sounds. You won’t call your hipster friends to tell of your new discovery of this album to parade around your cutting-edginess. But the Screwdrivers songs are so good, you’ll find yourself replaying them in your head. Calm, confident vocals, and excellent pop sensibility is what makes this record surprisingly durable. There are some obvious comparisons to be made: They can sound a bit like R.E.M., especially with their fairly high-pitched and soaring backround vocals They can also sound like Big Star and/or Alex Chilton. But it’s tough to figure out what exactly it is about certain songs that trigger these memories. Maybe it’s just that they’re both so damn good. [www.thescrewdrivers.com]