The Pleased - Don't Make Things

With a penchant for penning the pop melodies that your ears have been missing and writing jangly rock instrumentals to accompany them, The Pleased are seemingly destined to be NME cover bearers. Don’t Make Things, this quintet’s latest full-length, finds common ground with many classics (The Velvet Underground, Television) and contemporaries (Rooney, The Strokes) alike. That’d be just fine if The Walkmen had not infiltrated the indie world with essentially the same aesthetic years prior to this album. Despite this fact, The Pleased still are a talented bunch with an inspired lyricist, keyboards that twinkle, guitars that chime, and memorable melodies that seem to flow freely from the vocalist lips. And, if nothing else, they’re sure to be heading toward a Volkswagen commercial near you. [www.thepleased.com]