Remy Stratton

((Sounder)) “Good Things”

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Good Things Come and Go Like Bad Things
Volcom Entertainment

Every once in a while I’ll hear an album that pushes all of my music-fetish buttons, and this is one of them. The whole album has that great murky production value that so many of my favorite records share. At times it’s hard to tell whether or not the vocals were recorded in a studio or in someone’s garage, and the instruments bleed together when there’s more than a couple in a given song. The album features some great piano and acoustic guitar work, as well as some fuzzy distorted guitar and weird synth sounds that really color the mix. Some tracks lean toward folk, while others rely on the classic loud/quiet/loud indie rock formula. Even the cover art is great: a painting of what appears to be a bird wearing a turtleneck sweater against a wooden background praying to a star. One of my favorite moments comes in “Things Are Gonna Get Worse,” which includes the word “worser.” Rap artists get away with chopping up English, so why not? Keep up the gooder works!

— Adam Fisher