Modern Skirts See All Of Us In Our Night

Athens band, Modern Skirts have been hovering around the big time since their inception in 2005. Sometimes called, America's own Sloan, the Skirts have that big bombastic pop air about them that made their Canadian peers a household name. These are two bands that create pop as if it were second nature to them and have the ability to create hooks out of just about anything. The Modern Skirts' latest album All Of Us In Our Night is evidence of this as the songs on this album ooze pop goodness despite rarely rising above a snails pace.

You see, All Of Us In Our Night is far from being a power pop barn burner. Oh no, like Sloan at their ballady best, Modern Skirts have crafted a mostly slow, mellow, and laid back album on All Of Us In Our Night that reeks of Beatles psychedelic ballads and colorful kaleidoscopic eyes. It's, "Strawberry Fields Forever," if those fields were located outside of the confines of Athens. It's an orchestrated piece of resonant pop that does it's best to lazily create something spectacular. While it might not totally achieve that, All Of Us In Our Night for the most part is a fun listen; it's AM radio influence saturates each of the songs with huge choruses, pianos, multi-part harmonies and a sense of longing that tugs at your heart.

While most of the songs seek some sort of sentimental bond there are precisely three songs on this album that allow the Skirts to stretch their legs and up the pace a bit. "Eveready," "Like Lunatics," and "Motorcade," are those tunes and hint at what this band can do given a bit of amplification and a groove. The songs are still ridiculously melodic but have enough oomph in them to shake out the cobwebs and rattle things up a bit. It's just strange how the three best moments on the disc are saved until the very end of the album. It's almost as if they banked on the ballads to lull you into their clutches and then saved the big tunes to seal the deal. It's an interesting strategy to say the least.

Although most of All Of Us In Our Night is like a dewy, hazy morning walk it still manages to keep you entertained and when the three closers hit it's a "whoa," sort of moment. For the most part though Modern Skirts take us on a strange mellow trip through the pop universe on All Of Us In Our Night, that while influenced by AM POP, Sloan, The Beatles, and even Dylan come up with something that is uniquely theirs.