Stream: Family of the Year, ‘St. Croix’
Kevin Bronson on
3
Artistic growth is one thing, but the sonic left turn on Family of the Year’s new “St. Croix” EP smacks of something else. Their 2009 full-length “Songbook” revealed the band as purveyors of earnest, harmony-rich folk-pop, but the new EP (four new songs and a Hooray for Earth remix of the title track) seems bent on seducing 1980s radio programmers with big, sticky melodies and ticklish synths. Perfect for the inevitable “Breakfast Club” remake? Possibly. Family of the Year has always been effortlessly hooky, and “St. Croix” is hard to deny … until the “ocean/motion/potion” rhyme in the chorus. A high price to pay for exuberance.
||| Stream: “St. Croix”
||| Live: Family of the Year plays Sept. 7 at the Troubadour with Viva Brother.
Cheesy, there’s a reason they are bigger in Europe.
I liked it until the chorus. It’s a little too much for me to not cringe over the rhyme scheme, but lyrics that sound like they were just fill in lines that were never filled in are a pet peeve of mine.
The music and vocals sound great though. I don’t mind the synths. Arcade Fire seemed to do really well with that in their last album.
Agreed…these guys were great when I saw them at SXSW last year, but this song is just kind of…lame.