Gigolo Aunts: Minor Chords And Major Themes

It's strange that straightforward, unironic, guitar-driven pop has turned into one of the least commercially viable genres in popular music. Without aggression, or angst, or irony, or canned beats, or choreographed dance routines, or sampled R&B classics, or silly clown make-up, it's hard to attract attention from music-industry gatekeepers. So you've got to give the Boston band Gigolo Aunts credit for its gutsy, stubborn adherence to music that's about as far as you can get from a commercial sure thing. If anything, Minor Chords And Major Themes is too accessible for the masses, a record that's not hiding a whole lot of subtleties beneath its happily chiming hooks, buzzy guitars, and Dave Gibbs' lovably ineffectual vocals. Leave the posturing to someone else; this one possesses the immediacy and sweet shimmer of pure pop, complete with such mind-explodingly cheesy lyrics as, "Everyone can fly / you just have to try." Let the hitmakers' purge their angst; that just makes these monumentally catchy, big-hearted anthems ("The Big Lie") and would-be prom themes ("You'd Better Get Yourself Together, Baby") that much more indispensable. At times, Minor Chords And Major Themes threatens to wear out its welcome—"Super Ultra Wicked Mega Love" is nowhere near as cool as it thinks it is, while "Everyone Can Fly" tries a bit too hard to spoon sugar on top of cheese—but there's marvelous, endearing, occasionally beautiful pop music scattered throughout. This stuff doesn't possess anything resembling an edge, but that makes it kind of adventurous, right