Monomyth - Happy Pop Family (2016)

Happy Pop Family is the 2016 offering from Monomyth, Canada's leading purveyors of mid-fi anthemic bedroom pop. Recorded in February of 2015 with Mike Wright (Each Other) at Montreal's infamous Drones Club, the album has tweaked and refined the sonic palette of their 2014 debut Saturnalia Regalia. The resulting batch of songs is imbued with an almost Blake-ian wonder, delicately balancing like Charlie Chaplin on a taut guitar cable between innocence and experience. Though main songwriters/guitarists Josh Salter and Seamus Dalton (Nap Eyes' bassist and drummer, respectively) are joined by a new rhythm section on their sophomore effort, the two keep everything in their Happy Pop Family by adding a pair of frequent collaborators. Multi-instrumentalist Scott Grundy (Heaven For Real/Quaker Parents) joins on drums while bassist Andrew Mazerolle provides scintillating low-end. Each brings a song to sweeten the pot, making this a truly family affair. Analog fetishists take note: the album was recorded to tape and mixed straight off the board, adding idiosyncratic charm and character to the songs. Their inventive blend of jangle and fuzz would slide in comfortably alongside the back catalogs of Creation, Flying Nun or Ork Records. Like a family heirloom, these pop gems shine, refracting one another's light to create a diamond-like unity.