![\"\"](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/paul_john_inner_sunset.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Music lovers who appreciate highly melodic and memorable rock-based songs \u2013 the kind of instantly hummable tunes that stick in your head long after the song is over \u2013 should take heart: though the style (however you might label it) doesn’t top the music 2014 charts, the style is far from moribund. In fact, San Francisco’s Bay Area might be considered something of a \u201cground zero\u201d for the upbeat (yet occasionally melancholy) form that some call \u201csunshine pop,\u201d \u201cpower pop\u201d or some other label that attempts to distill a description down to a couple of words. The Mystery Lawn label<\/a> has quickly established itself as a reliable purveyor (or perhaps \u201ccurator\u201d) of high quality music from a wide array of thoughtful, individualistic artists. Though each has their own distinct musical personality and vision, all Mystery Lawn acts share a love and appreciation (as well as an uncanny knack) for well-crafted melodies with substance.<\/p>\n The latest in the consistent line of highly regarded releases is the long-awaited debut from The Paul & John<\/strong>. The duo of singer\/songwriter\/guitarists Paul Myers<\/strong> and John Moremen<\/strong> released Inner Sunset<\/em> this summer.<\/p>\n The duo are careful not to let critics lump all Mystery Lawn groups into a single, confined genre. \u201cTo me all of the [label’s] groups are very different from each other,\u201d Moremen insists. Myers concedes that groups releasing their music on Mystery Lawn do have much in common, but believes they’re distinct as well. \u201cI think that while John and I come at this approach to pop rock songwriting from oh-so-slightly different angles, the unified region of our Venn diagram is larger than the non-aligned regions,\u201d he says. \u201cBy filtering it all through (label head\/producer) Allen Clapp<\/strong><\/a>‘s ears (and gear) the sound is even more unified, and of course more Mystery Lawn.\u201d<\/p>\n Moremen agrees: while he allows that \u201cthe one thing we have in common would be Allen’s influence, which is immeasurable.\u201d Citing a shared predilection toward \u201cbig harmony vocals and broad sonic gestures like reverb-y guitars, and roomy drums,\u201d Myers notes that \u201call of the acts on Allen’s label make records that sound like records<\/em>…just maybe not records from today.” And to those who might tag The Paul & John’s music as \u201cretro\u201d \u2013 myself, I’d more likely call it timeless \u2013 Paul Myers says, \u201cno one involved in Inner Sunset<\/em> was self-consciously “retro” in our approach to the sonic design. It just so happens that our ideals are the accumulation of a lot of 70s and 60s records, and we’ve all been doing this for a long time.\u201d Moremen admits that The Paul & John will occasionally \u201cventure into Orange Peels<\/strong><\/a> territory a little, but that\u2019s mainly because I play guitar and co-write the music in both groups.\u201d<\/p>\n A unifying hallmark of the ten songs on Inner Sunset<\/em> \u2013 from \u201cInner Sunrise,\u201d the brief, Everly Brothers<\/strong>-styled acoustic opener, through the disc’s more rocking, full-band styled tunes, to the soaring, pastoral \u201cInner Sundown\u201d that closes the album \u2013 is an unerring insistence upon memorable melodic lines. Or, as we used to call them, hooks. \u201cWe love<\/em> hooks,\u201d Myers readily admits. In his view, \u201cA hook can be a compelling melody, an ear-grabbing riff, or even a life-altering chord change. So we do begin with some kind of initial hook, then refine, add to and arrange.\u201d He considers song arrangement a critical component in songcraft. \u201cThe layout is built around nurturing and protecting the hooks. This is not a cynical thing,\u201d he hastens to add. \u201cWe really do approach it based on what excites us as listeners.\u201d Moremen approaches the subject from a subtly different perspective. \u201cFor the most part, we started [writing] the melody, or words and a melody. I find that the hooky bits just naturally present themselves as the tune is coming together.\u201d In fact, he says, \u201cI can\u2019t remember a time when I\u2019ve actually put<\/em> a hook into a song, unless it\u2019s a recurring riff or something like that.\u201d But almost immediately, he amends his remark: \u201cIn the case of the song ‘Inner Sunset,’ it was completely rewritten, because we felt something was missing. I guess,\u201d he allows, \u201cin that case you could say we made it ‘hookier.’\u201d The texture of Moremen’s hollowbody electric guitar solo on \u201cInner Sunset\u201d is evocative of George Harrison<\/strong><\/a>‘s lead work circa A Hard Day’s Night<\/em>; listeners can decide for themselves if that quality classifies as hooky.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/paul_john_photo.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/icon_twitter_small.jpg\"){kind=icon}
Twitter<\/a> and get notified