The Ladybug Transistor has operated well below the radar for the past ten years or so, its fluid, ever-shifting line-up finding singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Gray Olson the band’s sole constant. Nevertheless, the sound projected on their latest -- and best -- offering bears the lush effervescence of a well-tuned ensemble, one adept at exacting precise embellishment for their baroque pop designs. Olson’s crooning, swooning vocals and the album’s ebullient pastoral tones provide some classic retro references - the Beach Boys’ Sunflower, Love’s Forever Changes and the Kinks’ Village Green Preservation Society among them, with hints of the Beatles, Burt Bacharach and a sturdy folk rock stance tossed in for good measure. The gentle lilt of “Terry,” the steady, straightforward resolve of “In-Between” and the wistful drift of ”For No Other” and “California Stopover” bar any turbulence from obscuring The Ladybug Transistor’s contented gaze. Still, things that appear serene can sometimes be suspect; there’s a hint of insurgency in the otherwise genteel “So Blind.” “I didn’t mean to blow you all away,” it finds Olson insisting. “I forgot to mention the gun was loaded.” It’s a credit to the band’s prowess and powers of seduction that we’re all too eager to forgive him.
--Lee Zimmerman
