Surrogate – Popular Mechanics
Record Label: Tooth and Nail Records
Release Date: July 2009
One of the year’s more pleasant surprises is Popular Mechanics, the sophomore album from Chico, CA’s Surrogate. A genial orchestration in lo-fi, folk-pop, the disc is mostly midtempo and is aided by the impassioned crooning of strong-lunged vocalist Christopher Keene, who serves as the band’s chief songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist and lyricist. Though the band takes on the form of a quartet live, Surrogate is for all intents and purposes, Keene and drummer/co-collabator Jordan Mallory, both of which were members of the short-lived rock band Number One Gun.
Popular Mechanics begins with an unnamed violin intro which segues into the gorgeous roots-pop of “Surprise.” Beautifully adorned, intricately crafted and swelling with tenderness, compassion and sterling musicianship, “Surprise,” is as pleasant an album opener as any released this year. On the heels of that is the breakup track “Cynicism,” which takes a decidedly different angle on the heartbroken motif as Keene sings, “I hope that you stay useful longer than I did, because it only gets harder from here.”
The album’s early standout is the sociopolitical “Exercise Machines,” in which Keene opines, “What if we could use our exercise machines to make electricity, all our needs would melt away the pounds.” Gauzey, gooey and warm, “Exercise Machines,” is a highly original and pensive exercise that borrows a lot from the Death Cab for Cutie handbook of lo-fi indie rock. This isn’t exactly a bad thing, in fact it’s a sterling compliment to a band who seems to have the same kind of ambition as the much-loved Seattle quartet.
Title track “Love is for the Rich,” follows and its a poignant and ruminative look at a failed relationship that’s as caustic, critical and cautious as any song this reviewer has heard in the last few years. Fueled by a sultry trumpet, it’s a guarded look at love gone wrong, anchored by the lines, “Romance just isn’t what it used to be, and that kind of girl is the reason why.”
“Whiskey (Vomiting Words)” is a stripped-down look at another romance gone sour, but whereas most songwriters would come across as copy-cutter or self-indulgent, Keene and Mallory seem to do exactly the opposite. Framed by the lines “Absence make the heart grow fonder, whiskey makes the mind grow weak, maybe next time you’ll remember to always think before you speak.” “Whiskey” is a gorgeous, cheeky and amiable listen from a band that thus far has done little wrong.
The disc’s only attempt at filler is “Water Tower,” a brief respite that while not exactly dull, doesn’t hold up to the rest of the body of work. That being said, “Water Tower,” is still a tune many bands would love to have claimed they’ve written. On the sociopolitical diatribe “A Constitution,” Keene remarks, “The thing about the corporate world is nothing passes by, and nothing goes unnoticed,” a line, which proves the band is equally adept at writing clever verses about more than just love gone wrong.
The album’s penultimate track is “State of Jefferson,” a song about geography and the world at large, and one in which Keene sings about California and Nevada burning and sex by candlelight. If it all sounds too strange to be understood, give the song a listen and be charmed.
The bristling and ebullient album ends with “The Devil Gets What He Wants (sometimes),” a meditative and somewhat sinister look at sex that’s sedate, cerebral and serene. Proving to be biting and angry, Keene sings, “I know what you’re doing, I can tell by your eyes, it used to happen to me all the time, not any more.”
Keene is a first-rate lyricist and songwriter and Popular Mechanics is proof of that. Authentic, inspiring and thought-provoking this is a disc as strong as any released this year and the certain arrival of a band that more people need to pay attention to.
Track Listing:
1. “Intro” – :40
2. “Surprise” – 3:32
3. “Cynicism” – 3:20
4. “Exercise Machines” – 3:13
5. “Love Is for the Rich” – 4:22
6. “Whiskey (Vomiting Words)” – 3:30
7. “Popular Mechanics” – 5:00
8. “Water Tower” – 2:56
9. “A Constitution” – 3:41
10. “State of Jefferson” – 2:38
11. “The Devil Gets What He Wants (Sometimes)” – 3:19
Recommended If You Like: Copeland, Death Cab for Cutie, Pedro the Lion, Lakes
For more about the band, visit their Myspace
