Russian Spy Camera: You Are a Vulture

This Athens, Georgia, group is the idea of Ryan White and his growing plethora of songs. As a result of this proflific streak, White has release a dozen of these tracks, beginning with “To Slip Through the Cracks”, which has a mix of contemporary pop with a late ’60s pop swing to it. It’s a very good stab at what could be described as a Yankee attempt at classic, punchy, and sometimes winding Brit pop. “Teasers With Tasers” is perky electro-pop that resembles a cross between Depeche Mode and Baby Dayliner. Fans of Spoon should lap up the somewhat funky and very satisfying “Svengali What’s the Caper”. One noticeable departure from this is the acoustic-leaning folk pop of “Curanderismo” that brings to mind the Barenaked Ladies. However, Russian Spy Camera returns to its strengths with the pleasing and rousing, Talking Heads-ish “Greetings from Far Away” and the gorgeous “A Matter of Time & Distance”, which could have fallen out of Crowded House’s songbook. The band are consistently inviting and engaging, whether it’s a surf rock-meets-punk rock romp like “Blueprint”, the hushed tone oozing from the ballad-y “Do You Feel Safe?”, or the off-kilter pop of “Descension”. Hopefully, it’s a band we’ll hear more from!