Poor But Sexy: Let’s Move in Together

People mention yacht rock a lot when discussing Poor But Sexy, the new project from Dismemberment Plan guitarist James Caddell, so we might as well start there. Their debut album Let’s Move in Together definitely mines some of the smoother sounds of the ’70s — breezy major seventh chords, some electric piano, and vocalist David Brown even sounds a little like Donald Fagen. It’s a promising and unusual approach for a modern indie band, and yields some encouraging results. A little lyrical variety would be nice, and the wry humor of the title track falls flat elsewhere (“Hotter Than a Poptart” and “Dong Pills” in particular seem pretty lightweight), but songs like the driving “Cherry Delicious” and a fertile stretch in the second half find Poor But Sexy firing on all cylinders and pushing themselves beyond a simple genre exercise. Fun, funky, and possibly even groovealicious.