Baskervilles: Twilight

Bubble-gum popsters Baskervilles could be placed on the New Jersey-based Paisley Pop label given how sugary these songs are, particularly the opening, string-accented “A Little More Time” and the Beatles-leaning “Smash” with its Sgt. Pepper-ish horns. Think of a mixture of The Go-Betweens and The Minders and this album should become a bit clearer. There are also the obligatory comparisons to Belle & Sebastian or The New Pornographers on “Caught in a Crosswalk” and the dance-rock, Franz-lite “Everybody Looks Not Everybody Finds”. Following a mediocre disco-esque “Slip a Little and Boom!”, the tandem of singers Rob Keith and Stephanie Finucane are particularly cavity-inducing during “Have You Seen Them?” which contains a slight hint of synthesizer. Another highlight has to be the Kinks-ian “Sweet And Sour” as well as the equally Ray Davies-saturated “It’s a Red Fade that Leaves in a Warm Way”. But through it all, Baskervilles keep the tight, infectious and criminally catchy songs at a high level of quality with “Where Did My Summer Go?” (do I hear more horns, ah yes). And the closing “The Apartment” is a great send-off with its subtle Buddy Holly-like vocal hiccup early on.