Devon Williams
Carefree
Ba Da Bing

The press kit for Carefree, Devon Williams’ debut full-length, does most of the work for me, comparing Williams’ songcraft to such pop touchstones as Julian Cope, Grant McLennan and Alex Chilton. However, the press kit doesn’t mention Paul Westerberg, whose influence also seemed obvious. In fact, “Stephanie City” bears a similar feeling to the Replacement’s “Alex Chilton,” which conveniently allows me two references at once. Williams certainly places himself in this lineage, wearing the influences on his sleeve to the point where much of his work sounds like someone’s lost b-sides. Take “How Could I Not,” which opens with a riff like Williams inverted the sheet music for the Go-Betweens’ “Cattle and Cane.” The album’s charms, while immediately striking, grow stronger with repeated listens, as the over-familiarity wears off and the hooks and intelligent lyrics rise to the surface. “A Truce” is a soaring highlight with lovely string arrangements courtesy of Lavender Diamond’s Steve Gregoropolous. Are we sure Neil Finn didn’t write this? The rest of the album floats around in a similar sonic universe—Carefree is something of a genre exercise, but a remarkably skillful and satisfying one.

— Patrick Newsom