Populuxe:Â Uneasy Listening
Populuxe
Uneasy Listening
(Volume & Tone)

A slow swirl of keys gets us into the funky beat of “Learning The Alphabet,†the first tune of Populuxe’s new album Uneasy Listening. Noisy guitar power chords inform the chorus with a slight pop-punk sensibility as Rob Shapiro’s slight Ray Davies/Harry Nilsson-like delivery fits this wry little opener. On the second tune, “American Night,†the band slows things down for a shimmery echo of a sweet surf-like ballad. I love this change-up of styles; only two tunes in.
The band reveals a near jazz mood on the bass and piano heavy “Carry Me†(at least in its verses). Featuring a weird warble (in a good way) Shapiro vocal, the band manages deep metallic slices in the chorus, setting off the heavy for the light as they do often here. The backward guitar effect is a nice touch on this weird yet effective tune that gets really loud as it ends.
There is that wry sensibility on the jumpy punk-like—and surely wonderful—“I’m Not Good At Drugs.†I love the effects used on the bass here, and the backing vocals are especially strong; dare we say Beach Boy’s like?
Employing more of those weird guitar effects, we slide into the electric strumming of “Unknown Town.†This island-like guitar short tune, and the finger-snap bass pop of the next, “The Show Is Closed,†present high points of the band and Shapiro’s singing, and that’s saying a lot on a collection with such outstanding vocals.
The music-hall-like piano of “Give Me A Moment,†reveals another expressive and truly Nilsson-like Shapiro vocal and caps what for me is a truly fantastic album from Populuxe.
