Sugarplum Fairies - Introspective Raincoat Student Music

Is anyone else but me bored with indie music? I haven’t heard anything truly unique and exciting in awhile. Recommendations are welcome. Sugarplum Fairies do nothing to remedy this situation. It’s not their fault, they’ve just become my scapegoat. Bad timing I guess. Introspective Raincoat Student Music is just another Mazzy Star/Nico spin-off. An afflicted Aimee Mann also comes to mind. Since most of the album sounds the same, I’m going to take the first five tracks as my representative sample: Track 1 – “Lunchbox” – 27 seconds of pre-recording tuning, out-of-sync improv. No real purpose. Track 2 – “Touchdown or Fly” – Keeps a slow and deliberate pace with a punctuating slide guitar in the background identical to Mazzy Star’s “Fade into You.” However, the vocals are more aloof and much less emotional. Track 3 – “Sugarfree” – Silvia Ryder’s pitch is much higher here than in the previous track. Song structure resembles an early 70’s Nico or Grace Slick composition. Track 4 – “Tomorrow’s Always One Day Late” – Dark methodic verses give away to a surprisingly light bridge featuring a brief duet between Sugarplum Fairies’ only two ingredients, Silvia Ryder and Ben Bohn. This duet accentuated by a modest piano solo may be the highlight of the album. Track 5 – “Sticky Summer” – A ghoulish song akin to “New Slang” by The Shins. Unlike the previous track, Ben Bohn’s voice is much less confident here. Hence, the use of adjective: ghoulish. Now repeat tracks 2 through 5 three more times, and you’ve heard the entire album. Essentially Introspective Raincoat Student Music is highly predictable and monotonous, and perhaps that’s what’s so boring with indie music today. Once again, recommendations are welcome. [www.sugarplumfairies.com]