{"id":27896,"date":"2024-08-04T05:30:56","date_gmt":"2024-08-04T09:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=27896"},"modified":"2024-08-02T15:21:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T19:21:00","slug":"album-review-the-embryos-selling-what-you-want-to-buy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/04\/album-review-the-embryos-selling-what-you-want-to-buy\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: The Embryos – Selling What You Want to Buy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"When we last checked in with the Embryos, it was way back in the \u201cbefore time.\u201d 2019, actually. The group merited notice not once but twice in that year, having released a vinyl LP (Open the Kimono<\/i><\/a>) and a 45 r.p.m. single<\/a>. I regarded both highly. Still do, in fact. I can\u2019t 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<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Listening ot the album, it\u2019s clear that at least one thing hasn\u2019t changed. The group doesn\u2019t 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\u2019t sound<\/i> like fellow Illinoisans Cheap Trick, for example, but they have similar quotient of intelligence and power.<\/p>\n

The Embryos aren\u2019t wimp-rockers like (nah, I won\u2019t name the guy), but neither do they rock out raucously. Their style navigates the sweet spot between those two extremes. And that\u2019s a fine place to be. Truth be known, on this release they don\u2019t remind me of any other band in particular. And that\u2019s fine They do what they do, serving up catchy tunes that move along and hold up to close examination.<\/p>\n

The handy one-sheet accompanying the CD suggests a few spotlight tracks, but for my moneny, \u201cFrozen City\u201d \u2013 not one of the cuts mentioned therein \u2013 is the winner. There\u2019s a close-up and friendly vibe that makes you feel like you\u2019re 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, \u201cLittle Demon\u201d is a slinky, slightly sinister minor-key rocker.<\/p>\n

Rock-pop songs named after girls have a proud tradition, and \u201cDesiree\u201d 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\u2019s simply lovely. Nearly as good is \u201cSweater in the Heather.\u201d It has some banjo, but it\u2019s about as country as the Rolling Stones. \u201cHe\u2019s a Hypocrite rocks harder, but leavens the approach with some welcome jangle.<\/p>\n

Thanks goodness The Embryos\u2019 \u201cI\u2019m a Man\u201d is an original; we really don\u2019t need any more covers of that blues classic. There\u2019s a bit of Ray Davies influence in the tune. The quirky \u201cDo the Donkey\u201d 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\u2019ve got a handle on where the Embryos are coming from musically, they close their album with \u201cOnandonandon.\u201d Think of Neil Young and Crazy Horse crossed with shoegaze \u2013 and with a splash of Teenage Fanclub \u2013 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?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we last checked in with the Embryos, it was way back in the \u201cbefore time.\u201d 2019, actually. The group merited notice not once but twice in that year, having […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,55,62,65],"tags":[3998],"class_list":["post-27896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-release","category-powerpop","category-rawk","category-review","tag-embryos","cat-49-id","cat-55-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27896"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27898,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27896\/revisions\/27898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}