Aloha

Aloha comes through with another full-length, this time less riddled with proggy time signatures and with more concentration on melody. And lemme tell ya, it's a big batch of dreamy indie rock with jazz influences and beautiful chords layering on top of each other. It's hard to place it in a genre or give a "it sounds like..." because it's fairly original and independent. I get a little bit of a The Sea and Cake vibe from this release, but, you know, like distant cousins. No direct blood relation.

This is Aloha's first recording as a four-piece, with T.J. Lipple to play the marimba, mellotron, vibes, drum kit, and some sampling. There isn't much change to the initial Aloha sound with the addition of Lipple, as there has always been auxiliary percussion in the form of marimba and vibes and such, but now they have a full-time member contributing with such instruments. The change in Aloha's sound is their focus on indie-pop melodies instead of the prog-rock phrases that dominated their previous works.

By far the most standout track is "Boys in the Bathtub," a danceable number that features prominent keyboards with a laid-back, dreamy chorus. It's a remarkable variation from their original sound showcasing their pop-sensibility as well as their traditional songwriting prowess. But don't fret, if your tastes compel you to prefer their older CDs, "Water Your Hands" is a more traditional Aloha track here. Other standouts are "Setting Up Shop," a slower piano ballad, and "Goodbye to the Factory," a rocker with a smooth chorus.

Overall, Aloha has given us another solid release displaying their new trends as well as their old habits in songwriting, leaving us with a twelve-track release that feels complete. Whether you like them for their marimba, inventive drumming, dreamy melodies, or the fact that they're just another Polyvinyl band, chances are you'll have a hard time escaping this album.