After being referred to as the band that would’ve “taken Smile out on the road” as well as being Brian’s actual backing band in the recent years (taking Pet Sounds out on the road!), and what’s most important, after three albums (demos collection, covers album and a regular one) of their own “retro-futuristic” soundscapes, this really could be the Wondermints’ definitive musical statement.
Brian even lends his vocal skills on two of the tracks, but all you get are only snippets of his legacy, along many others, leaving the band “hanging to their own ego”. Though it still contains all the usual ingredients of the so called “thinking men’s pop”, full of “brainy” Zombies/Michael Brown arranging sophistication and a dose of Os Mutantes/Brazil’66 latino-exotica here and there, the overall feel is a bit more relaxed, comparing to the one of Bali.
Generally, the sound falls under the description used for the Swedish Fading Yellow ’60s compilation series, gathering “popsike and other delights”. The former is based mostly on guitarist Nick Walusko’s tunes (Out Of Mind, Sweetness, On The Run).
While the rest of them fulfill whatever may sound delightful, like the imaginary, late sixties Macca/Brian collaborations Ride and So Nice, Shine On Me, sounding like the full-blown-orchestra-backed Wrecking Crew (with the busy rhythmic coda, recalling Cilla Black’s Surround Yourself With Sorrow), or Time Has You, a Beatly kind of thing that the Gallaghers would kill for.
Another “refreshment” is Mike D’Amico, who blossoms on this one. After giving us only a hint of his composing talents with Cellophane from Bali, he’s much more involved now, also providing one of the album’s highlights, the loungey, harmony-driven Project 11.
Regarding the album title, after such a long wait, as someone said, “I thought they’ll never ask”.
[Released by Smile 2002]
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