Two Harbors and Pictures Of Then
Pictures Of Then
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Two Harbors, All The Places We Would Rather Be
(Susstones)
Although they changed their name from Colonial Vipers Attack for their sophomore album, Anglophile pop-quartet Two Harbors is far from defanged on All The Places We Would Rather Be. Unlike other local rock acts, Two Harbors lean more heavily toward Oasis-style sheen rather than rough-and-tumble garage rock. Though, All The Places is at its best when frontman Chris Pavlich’s smooth voice is augmented by righteously barbed riffage, like on “You Pulled The Rug Out.” The bandmembers are established veterans with a collective past résumé that reads like a who’s who of early-2000s local-rock bands (Divorcee, Faux Jean, and Work Of Saws). Their hooks never miss their marks, and the group has found the ideal producer in Susstones honcho Ed Ackerson. If any critique can be lobbed against the band, it’s that the disc is perhaps too consistent in tone and approach. As one perfectly sculpted slice of aggressively strummed, big-chorused Britpop bleeds into the next, the lesser numbers start to feel a bit paint-by-numbers, which is a minor complaint considering the album’s better material.
Grade: B
Upcoming show: Susstones Showcase at Sauced Spirits & Soundbar on July 11
Pictures Of Then, And The Wicked Sea
(Self-released)
Given the remarkably polished pop songcraft that Pictures Of Then exhibit on And The Wicked Sea—not to mention that the songs from their 2007 debut, Crushed By Lights, got airplay on MTV's The Real World and The Hills—it's hard to imagine that the next CD-release show the Minneapolis quartet plays will be at a venue as small as the Uptown Bar; here's a band that seems destined for bigger audiences and greater acclaim. Wicked Sea flirts with glam rock and psychedelia, but builds its engaging sound on a solid foundation of guitar-driven indie rock in the style of Modest Mouse, though Pictures Of Then lean more toward pop beauty and strummy ballads than Isaac Brock's rough-edged rock. That isn't to say Pictures Of Then can't rock, which they do on tracks like "History Of Bones" and the catchy, Cars-esque "When It Stings." But while those songs pack some real punches, it's Wicked Sea's more mid-tempo tunes—like the breezily rolling "Questions Anyone?" and piano-driven "Nowhere Is Somewhere"—that are the album's secret weapons, giving lead vocalist Casey Call's clear, bright tenor a good showcase.
Grade: A-
Upcoming show: Uptown Bar on July 10
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