That opener, "Crystal Visions," sets a strong template for the rest of the album including gauzy guitars, steady drums, dreamy vocals, and hints and wisps of melody. It's all pretty simple really. So why does the album feel like a strong contender in that inevitable listing of the best albums of 2009? Why would something that sounds so unsurprising keep popping up on our playlists when far more unique tunes get a couple listens before getting filed away in our mental vault.
A listen to The Big Pink's "Dominoes" helps explain the mystery away. It's marching beat and sing-song chorus are so simple they're instant classics. It the soundtrack of the societal subconscious in that it plucks and tugs at stimulus centers eager to pump serotonin into the embrace of warm cultural recognition. It's catchy and buoyant and irresistible. Or at least nigh irresistible. A rare few may find themselves immune to the album's charms, and those will probably do so because they will find its sound too derivative of an earlier era. And they're right, it does faithfully mirror a certain feel from a certain time. But what they're missing is that The Big Pink has mastered the language of those days and expertly crafted it into something new to these ears. And isn't one mark of great art to make the impressive look simple and easy?
MP3: The Big Pink "Dominoes" MP3: The Big Pink "Velvet"