The Makes Nice: Candy Wrapper and Twelve Other Songs

The Makes Nice sound as if they’ve been listening to early British records by the Kinks and decided to mash them up with some Keith Moon drum rolls. The short, crisp, and delectable “California Sun” should have your head bobbling along, while “As Long as I Can” is a great old-school rave up that would have the Hives and the Mooney Suzuki doing double and triple takes. These tidy tracks rarely disappoint, especially the pretty, Petty-esque picture painted during “Enough Is Enough” and the finely tuned “Candy Wrapper”, which resembles a cross between Matthew Sweet and the High Speed Scene. The precision is priceless among the trio here, with lead singer Aaron Burnham, bassist Josh Smith, and Jack Matthew nailing the cavity-inducing “Nothing Left to Say”. Rarely clocking in at three minutes, the ditties seem to blend into one giant good tune, with “November Girls” and “She Don’t Ever Let Go” making one boogie. The lone song where things sound just a tad forced is “The Day Is Done”. Tis a small price to pay though for such a clever little piece of rock.