Ross Beach has been in bands such as The Gerbils and Neutral Milk Hotel and this is his fourteenth album. He’s from Louisiana and now makes home in Portland, OR and co-founded Portland’s PDX Pop Now! music festival. Use of keys, synths, guitars, resulting in some catchy, lyrically crafty and funny songs. Some cool stuff here. No FCC’s.

*My Favorites*: 1, 3, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14.

1. *(3:27) Mid. Title track. Very comical, playful and upbeat.
2. (1:56) Mid. Loud and rockin’. Funny self-referential breakdown.
3. *(1:34) Mid. Folky tune, acoustic guitars, about Fascist toothpaste. Great.
4. (2:20) Mid. Processed vocal ‘this is only a test’. Tape rewind sounds, then band. Tape recorder sounds at end.
5. (2:10) Mid. Dreamy. Echoey vocals, big production, epic sound.
6. (3:48) Mid. Pretty heavy lyrics. Reminds me a bit of ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’, but not quite as epic sounding.
7. *(4:26) Slow / Mid. Synths, processed stuff, vocal effects, all over / under a classical guitar. Interesting.
8. (1:19) Mid. Guitars, drums, electronic.
9. *(3:58) MId. Synths, upbeat, driving beat, lyrics about a guy being creepy. Cool.
10. *(2:06) Mid. Keys, lead and backing vocals. Very cool.
11. (1:23) Mid / Fast. Upbeat, loud, rockin’, about a ‘hot’ chick. Great lyrics.
12. *(2:14) Mid. Catchy, cool guitar, song about driving. Good stuff.
13. (2:50) Mid. A cappella to begin with two voices, one way in the back. Quiet, minimal, acoustic song.
14. *(2:06) Slow. Spoken voices to start. Vocal and piano with continued voices in the back. Sparse and quiet and a beautiful love song.
15. (2:21) Slow. Humming voices, echoey, spacey vocals with a slight drone in the back.
16. (7:15) Slow / Mid. Guitar, slight synth, then vocal with 4:45 remaining and acoustic guitar with backing vocals. Then vocals rise with a plodding foot-like beat.