Real Close Ones

On this Chicago band’s third full-length they don’t shy from their taste for vintage pop. With members trading vocal duties, and a range of instrumental dressings coloring the sound (space-age synthesizers, flanged guitars, brassy horns, boogying pianos), Real Close Ones succeeds brilliantly in serving up a wide variety of textures and sonic treats, just as artists like Bowie, or the Kinks, or the Velvet Underground used to do. Opening track “Big Sound” howls like Mott the Hoople, with rollicking pianos and blaring horns (who really uses horns in a rock’n’roll  kind of way these days?), and the band shows a clear affection for Alex Chilton/Big Star on “Get Your S* Together.” The lovely closing track, “How Could You” and the waltzing and goofy “Breakfast Score” could both have been lifted from the Kinks’ catalog, while “Days in the Sun” has a breezy Beatles’ feel. All that said, there's plenty of music here that feels original and fresh, such as the woozy confessional  “Naked,” the psych-pop haze of “Don’t Be Late” and “Pigs Fly,” and the pretty and summery “Trying to Keep.” Keep Real Close Ones near your Flaming Lips and Elf Power records, for gently mind-altering, retro-inspired music on a lazy afternoon.