Shaking Strangers

For an album that brings such resourcefulness and variety to bright power-pop songs, Meteorade's Shaking Strangers (which the Madison band will celebrate Friday at The Frequency) has an easy time shrugging off coolness. In fact, the photo above (from an actual Sears portrait studio) might be perfectly true-to-life. Opening track "Let It Stop" brings some refreshing eagerness to anyone who's bored of hearing Doug Martsch whine or Stephen Malkmus sound aloof. Guitarist/bassist Tom Teslik's vocals jab the song up to speed with yelps about "some beat that beats my brain repeatedly."

The best guitar leads work here like they would on a Buzzcocks song, cutting against the rhythm figures and vocals with a few simple and well-chosen plucks. Meteorade doesn't play with technical wizardry here, but with enough attention to write memorable parts. The band also builds fun instrumental bridges, instead of just playing boring solos in place of verses. "Supercharged" begins as a pleasant stroll—"I am taking real steps / and each one feels the best" Teslik sings, and if he's smirking, it tastefully doesn't come through in his voice. The band snaps out of it for a little surf-rock punch-up at the end. The hooks on album-closer "Sending Me A Storm" twinkle briefly and sweetly, before releasing the song into a four-minute jam that has several energetic twists of its own.

Not that Meteorade sheds all of its youthful awkwardness on Shaking Strangers: The vocals on "Postslackerism" (among others) put a sloppy finish on otherwise solid melodies and witty lyrics: "Is the Exxon Valdez still your worst memory?" Despite these frustrations, Meteorade's four members didn't fall into the common trap of making an album before they were sure of themselves. They did it just when things were picking up.