Hidden Pictures: Synchronized Sleeping

Synchronized Sleeping is a package of 12 perfectly safe pop songs from Lawrence, Kansas’s Hidden Pictures. The band’s core duo of Richard Gintowt and Michele Sanders offer twee and alt-country in equal measure — just not enough personality. Gintowt, who handles lead vocals, hits on many of life’s simple pleasures — checking out a girl who works at the library, cursing at a baseball game — but the songs bleed into one another, with few ever getting the chance to shine on their own. “Genevieve” recalls Fountains of Wayne’s power-pop and is the sound of the band letting loose, and not surprisingly is one of the album’s strongest tracks. Album closer “Alexander Bell” charms with a steady dose of vocals from Sanders and a driving acoustic guitar. But these peaks can’t save the album from its excess of cringe-worthy lyrics: “Life’s too short to be a frowner / So don’t be an ol’ Debbie Downer”; “I thought I was in control / All my ducks in a row / But they got out of line.” Or as Gintowt muses on “Red Alerts”, “Some days are green / Some are yellow / But all I’m seeing is red.” That sums it up.