Guster - Ganging Up On the Sun

Guster’s latest album, Ganging Up on the Sun is an amalgam of standard rock, clean-cut alternative beats, and up-tempo full-band medleys. It’s also an escape from the deadly “pop” moniker—these songs have bounce, particularly the delightful banjo-driven “The Captain,” and they’re slick, as with the perfectly produced and synthesized “Satellite,” but the whole album is far more alternative or straight-up rock than past releases. Part of this is due to the new member, Joe Pisapia, who adds that country-modern flair. For all that, this is still the same group that started as Gus back at Tufts: just listen to a song like “Hang On” and it’s 2003 all over again. Brian’s still playing the drums with his hands, tracks like “Ruby Falls” keep the same delightful falsetto, and the songs are still cozy, natural, and playful. They have, however, picked up some new tricks. “The Beginning of the End” is full of distorted guitar, and “The New Underground” matches the energy of We Are Scientists with the creative dissonance of Gorillaz, punching out a calypso-like beat. “One Man Wrecking Machine,” an electric long-form song that traces the ruination of our childhoods, has traces of Coldplay, and the addition of trumpets to a song like “Dear Valentine” bolsters their underlying strength. The classic sound of a tambourine on “Manifest Destiny” plays right alongside a running brook of piano notes. That makes the track forceful yet lightly paced when it sings: “You and I could quit this scene/build a town and then secede/like an Adam and an Eve.” Inevitably, the tracks slow down to a point on “Empire State,” but even then, Guster is maintaining their solid yet amorphous sound. Odd as it may be at first to hear their indie rock lyrics blending with a more melodious, almost Decemberist sound, Ganging Up on the Sun is a quickly catchy album, and a must-listen for 2006. [www.guster.com]