by David Wilikofsky
The music video for “Strung Out on You”, one of the lead singles for 2nd Grade’s latest album Easy Listening, offers a quick visual primer on the band’s universe. 70s style bubble letters announce the song’s title amidst a backdrop of ever shifting images: vintage cars, concrete landscapes, the band themselves. Their music functions in much the same way as these flickering shots, short blasts of highly melodic rock music that seamlessly mix sounds from different eras of the genre. Led by songwriter Peter Gill and featuring an all star lineup of Philly players (including members of Remember Sports, Friendship and Free Cake For Every Feature), Easy Listening is an album that toys with rock history while refusing to take itself too seriously.
I’ve seen 2nd Grade touted as one of a crop of modern power pop revivalists, and in some sense that categorization seems apt; their music has always been chock full of sticky melodies, blown out riffs and harmonies galore, and Easy Listening is no exception. Yet as I’ve listened to the album over the past few weeks, I can’t help but think it’s a gross oversimplification. Easy Listening is anachronistic in its approach to rock history, collaging sounds and styles into something that sounds both classic and modern. Tracks like “Strung Out on You” could easily be long lost Big Star tracks, while others reference the blown out garage rock of Guided by Voices or the melancholic Northwest indie pop of K Records. Their vision of rock is all encompassing, something that sounds instantly familiar yet could only exist at this point in the history of the genre.
Though its melodies are memorable and the band’s musicianship is tight, what elevates Easy Listening above being just another rock album is its writing. There’s a quirky sense of humor to Gill’s songwriting, one that delights at every turn. Mid album highlight “Kramer in L.A.” imbues the Seinfeld character with an uncharacteristic pathos as he mournfully reflects on his move to the West Coast. “Teenage Overpopulation” airs curmudgeonly grievances against teenagers, perhaps poking fun at the idea that rock is still a genre for the youth. “Controlled Burn” ends with a sing along chorus spelling out the titular phrase, one perhaps too long for the letter by letter treatment. It’s this refusal to take anything too seriously that allows Easy Listening to live up to the promise of its title, proving itself to be one of most joyful listening experiences you’ll have this year.