Let Me Come Home

Album Review

Limbeck offer up a breezy, rambunctious dose of alt country pop music with Let Me Come Home. Clearly inspired by the likes of Wilco, Big Star, and Tom Petty, just about any of these 13 songs would put a smile on the faces of their jangle pop idols. Frontman Robb MacLean's nasal singing style might not lend itself that favorably to the album's few ballads, but thankfully sun-drenched California country-rock tunes outnumber the slower tracks. MacLean's and Patrick Carrie's harmonies are a fine fit for the upbeat guitars, melodic harmonicas, and punchy drums that paint countless images of happy road trips through the desert. Thematically things are kept pretty basic, with MacLean's occasional drawl illuminating universal tales of young love, life on the road, and catching a favorite band at the local bar. "Sin City" is particularly catchy, with MacLean relating how he used to hate the city, but now he likes it "because it's got you." Only "Television" feels like a stretch, with some awkward lyrics that attempt social commentary about war and societal ignorance in a song that proclaims that TV is bad for one's mind that "the people are idiots." With things generally skewed to the mundane as they are on "Television," one can't help but think that Limbeck are probably a better live band than a studio band. Having an audience clap along and giggle with such a simplistic world view is usually more fun in a live setting than it is on record. While Limbeck don't ever reach the heights of their power pop idols, they've crafted a fun, syrupy album in Let Me Come Home. With more musical and thematic variation, and with more mature lyrics that come with experience, the future looks even brighter for these California guys, because more than anything, this album suggests a promising long term career. Die-hard Jeff Tweedy fans, particularly those endeared more to Wilco's days before they went a bit post-rock, will find much to love here.