I am not the expert of Jangle Pop and Indie Pop, that title belongs to my great friend Darrin lee and his essential Janglepophub. If it Jangles, he will tell you if it is the Bees Knees. Having said that, I think many of my peers will agree that Young Scum's 2018 self titled debut album was a wonderful example of both genres.
The obvious question is why it has taken so long for the Richmond, Virginia quartet to follow it up. I don't know the answer to that, but I do know that Lighter Blue is a corking second album. It takes what is great about that debut and ventures a little further.
At its heart, it is still 80s sounding Jangle Pop, very C86, almost Glasgow, beautifully arranged, performed and arranged. Gentle to the extreme with winsome vocals, memorable choruses and gentle meandering jangled riffs.
There are also surprises. Didn't Mean To for instance has a great double vocal and starts all tame and beautiful before slipping into something much pacier and See It Through rocks out more than expected and Wrong gets close to The Supernaturals or The Housemartins and Jangles like a good 'un.
Away is another pacier song with a killer riff. in fact a killer song. But special mention goes to Velvet Crush, a song title that betrays some influence and adds a meandering solo that is very close to Everything Flows. Lighter Blue is as Jangly and Melodic as you would expect, but adds more than you might expect.
You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl from Pretty Olivia Records here. American Vinyl orders will be sent from Portland to allow cheaper shipping costs.
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