Pioneer

The Maine’s third studio album finds the Tempe, Ariz.-based quintet hitting its stride. “Identify” balances a lo-fi intro with crystalline production and a painstaking attention to detail that makes it sound like the album was produced in a laboratory instead of a studio. But under all the bells and whistles is a band with an uncanny chemistry relying on almost telepathic communication. The arrangements and changes start and stop on a dime, as if the song structures were imbedded in each member’s DNA. “My Heroine” follows with a salient guitar riff that’s equally catchy and unpredictable, before “Time” nearly reinvents power pop with barbed hooks grappling for your eardrums in the song’s verses rather than the chorus. “Some Days” is a standout cut well worthy of its single status. Over punctuated rhythms and stellar guitar parts, singer John O\'Callaghan effortlessly segues from a subdued approach in the verses to a larger-than-life attack on the refrain. If you believe that perfect pop is built on contrasts, “Some Days” will hit you right between the eyes.

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