Album Review: The Embryos – Selling What You Want to Buy

When we last checked in with the Embryos, it was way back in the “before time.” 2019, actually. The group merited notice not once but twice in that year, having released a vinyl LP (Open the Kimono) and a 45 r.p.m. single. I regarded both highly. Still do, in fact. I can’t say for certain what-all this Chicago outfit has been up to I nthe years since, but here were are mid 2024, welcoming a new album, Selling What You Want to Buy.

Listening ot the album, it’s clear that at least one thing hasn’t changed. The group doesn’t fit neatly into the power pop bag. The Embryos have most all of the qualities of the best in that genre: sharp hooks, memorable melodies, chiming guitar, solid harmonies and chiming guitars. But their sound is too expansive to deserve pigeonholing. They don’t sound like fellow Illinoisans Cheap Trick, for example, but they have similar quotient of intelligence and power.

The Embryos aren’t wimp-rockers like (nah, I won’t name the guy), but neither do they rock out raucously. Their style navigates the sweet spot between those two extremes. And that’s a fine place to be. Truth be known, on this release they don’t remind me of any other band in particular. And that’s fine They do what they do, serving up catchy tunes that move along and hold up to close examination.

The handy one-sheet accompanying the CD suggests a few spotlight tracks, but for my moneny, “Frozen City” – not one of the cuts mentioned therein – is the winner. There’s a close-up and friendly vibe that makes you feel like you’re in the rehearsal room as the band deals out its swell vocal harmonies and a catchy jangle rocker. That said, one of the songs that is recommended in that one-sheet, “Little Demon” is a slinky, slightly sinister minor-key rocker.

Rock-pop songs named after girls have a proud tradition, and “Desiree” adds a worthy chapter to that saga. With the subtlest whiff of classic country, the song all but forces the listener to trill along. It’s simply lovely. Nearly as good is “Sweater in the Heather.” It has some banjo, but it’s about as country as the Rolling Stones. “He’s a Hypocrite rocks harder, but leavens the approach with some welcome jangle.

Thanks goodness The Embryos’ “I’m a Man” is an original; we really don’t need any more covers of that blues classic. There’s a bit of Ray Davies influence in the tune. The quirky “Do the Donkey” is a late addition to the dance-craze song tradition; it features an impressive vocal arrangement and clever guitar picking, neither of which would be expected in such a tune. And just when you think you’ve got a handle on where the Embryos are coming from musically, they close their album with “Onandonandon.” Think of Neil Young and Crazy Horse crossed with shoegaze – and with a splash of Teenage Fanclub – for eight minutes plus. A weird and slightly confusing (but effective) way to close an album, that. IT leaves me wanting more, and ultimately can one ask for more from an album?