"Everybody, Come Outside"- Pomegranates

8.7

You can tell a lot about this album just from it's cover. Odds are the impression you get from a couple seconds of glancing at it are accurate: fun, colourful, innocent, bright, etc. All very good things, which this album happens to have a lot of. Let's take a short look back...

Last year, Poms released their first LP, "Everything is Alive", and almost a year to the day later, they have a second one out. This alone is amazing. Their first album had the potential, but none of the songs really stuck out (with the exception of a few). However, on this album, they took the potential and really honed it and found their niche.

The album starts out fun, in a jolt of indie rock with a nice beat and group vocals that make you want to groove along. Sonic is a word I would describe the soundscapes on this album. They define their sound as "art-pop" and I like this name for them. The songs have a nice gliding, easy-going feel to them. I feel like there are a number of high points in this album, and it definitely has more of a direction than their first. Their guitar lines are sweet; each song usually has a driving bassline with slick guitar phrases left and right with some atmospheric keyboards. "Beachcomber" is a nice song to bring in the summer with. The band's two singers comliment the songs really well. One singer has a higher, almost falsetto, that's very child-like and whimsical but definitely has gusto; where the other singer has the gusto and gives it a deeper feel. As far as motifs throughout the album, stars, dreams, the sky, space, land, and water. "The Southern Ocean" talks about a (girl?) swimmer with big dreams, and a peppy sound. This track really kicks off the album for me. "Sail (Away with Me)" is a cute indie love song that your ears will surely sail away on. The mellotron flutes give way to a very transe-like state, I like it. "Corriander" dabbles in progressive and art rock (hence 'art pop') with the sonic delay-filled guitar lines and talks about when "I was young/a few lightyears ago". "384 BC" is slow and dreamy. Dreamy, another point I'd like to bring up. The songs on "Everybody" are very innocent, dreamy, child-like, etc, but not unfocused or stupid. Rather their songs are child-like and fun, with psychedelic passages and a whimsy comparable to Syd Barret led Pink Floyd.

Another great thing about Poms is t

hat the songs aren't too long and they don't drag on too long. With the exception of "Jerusalem has a Bad Day" and "I feel like I'm a Million Years Old", which clock in at nearly 7 minutes and 13 minutes respectively. Their songs are easy to listen to, fun, psychedelic at times, playful, and very solid.

Highlight: "Everybody, Come Outside", "Tesseract", "The Southern Ocean"

Listen if you like: The Shins, early Pink Floyd, Arctic Monkeys