The Chicago-born rock trio, the Smith Westerns, started off as a highly successful MySpace group known for channeling their teen dream sound into garage rock anthems. Their first songs went a long way to capture the band's high school youthfulness in lo-fi ballads, but little to display the raw talent residing, unharnessed, beneath. Nevertheless, their 2009 self-titled debut won them enough fans to sell thousands of records and turn heads in the alternative rock scene.
The band, composed of brothers Cameron and Cullen Omori and Max Kakacek, started touring as high school juniors and essentially grew up on the road. The band observed bigger bands and worked hard to balance finding its own sound with the joys and challenges that come with life on tour. Very quickly, poster child indie bands like MGMT, Girls, Florence and the Machine and Belle and Sebastian took notice of the Smith Westerns, taking the band on tour for much of 2010.
In their sophomore album, "Dye It Blonde," released on January 18 by Fat Possum, the band proves itself a few years older and wiser. The album feels like a carousel ride, a youthful tribute to life and love in the language of psychedelic glam rock. The combination of earnest and innocent vocals and sound structures make this album accessible to all, but primed to be appreciated by the soundest critics.
The Smith Westerns attribute their style to '90s Britpop sensations like Oasis, Teenage Fanclub and Suede, but its no challenge to taste bits of Bowie's glitter, Harrison's phasered guitar, Lennon's tongue-kissed pop and T. Rex's swagger in "Dye It Blonde." According to frontman Cullen Omori, the band set out to create an album that can withstand the test of time and hold its own against the big bands of the '80s and '90s.
The Smith Westerns has cast aside their youthful eagerness and focused on harnessing their sound. The band's use of careful layering, doubled guitars and multi-track harmonies adds complexity to their songs. Access to Fat Possum's studios has allowed the Smith Westerns to not only find but also perfect their sound—they've taken teenage garage pop-rock and sliced off any rough edges. The result is 10 polished and lamp-lit garage rock songs that would make any of the greats proud. "Dye It Blonde" is the album equivalent of a jar full of lightning bugs—a controlled bundle of glowing pop-glam-garage rock.
The album's opening song "Weekend" is a song that Pitchfork accurately describes as "drunk" on everything, from drink to life to love and everything in between. It speaks to youth and innocence in a way that all of us can relate to, whether we're in our teens, twenties or fifties.
"Still New" and "Only One" are laid-back and relaxed in contrast to the other songs on the album, and both feature Omori speaking to a lover with a maturity gained from experience. On "Still New," he urges "If this is all that you know/Then don't go it alone," and in "Only One," he expresses his desire to share "what it's like/to be loved and always loved."
The ambient sound of "Smile" is chillwave at its finest, with resounding choruses á-la-Bowie and an airy, elated sound that leaves the listener feeling like she is all but floating on the good vibes. "Imagine Pt. 3" shamelessly declares its affection for Lennon, with parts of the song sounding like a hum-along to "Oh Yoko!"
"All Die Young" is another anthem to youth in all of its naivety and innocence, not to mention the timeless desire to never grow old. In this song, as in many others, the Smith Westerns make no effort to contrive moodiness or complexity where there is none to be found. Their lyrics are sweet, simple and satisfying and never feel contrived.
"Fall In Love," "End of the Night" and "Dance Away" feel like the quintessential Beatles meets George Harrison tunes, songs that layer poppy backdrops atop punchy pianos and buzzing guitars. "Dance Away" contains a sexy tempo-change that jumps from a fast-paced toe tapping to a slow-jam sway.
However, the song that stands out the most is the rock ballad (and the album's namesake) "Dye the World," a song that features Omori's airy vocals, and layer upon layer of whining guitars and synths. This is the track when the T. Rex comparisons shine through the brightest (just hear T. Rex's "Monolith" and you may have to double-check what band you're listening to).
"Dye the World" is more sophisticated rock-and-roll than the other songs on the record, but in its brilliance only serves to cement the album's near-perfection. It's the ideal finale to an excellent album—a satisfying ending that leaves nothing but the highest anticipation for whatever's coming next.