Astronauts

Album Review

With Astronauts, Here Comes Everybody delivered another dose of quality indie pop out of the Great Northwest. Cut from the same keyboard power trio cloth as Ben Folds Five, Here Comes Everybody rocks less hard than Ben Folds and has even closer affinities to its Northwest neighbors Elliott Smith and Quasi. Keyboardist Michael Jarmer contributed all the lyrics and Rene Ormae-Jarmer the music for the tunes, which play as brilliant little vignettes, like pop snapshots of fleeting neurotic states of mind. Themes range from riding in a 1966 Buick, to waving at astronauts on the moon, to taking a boat ride (and not knowing how to swim), to gleaning self-help tips from cereal boxes. Michael Jarmer's close-miked double-track lead vocals are intimate and personal — even when being whimsical, there's a soft sincerity at play. The melodies and choruses are infectious and the keyboard arrangements are filled with harmonic interest. Astronauts is in part a quest to shed the complications of modern living; the band's refreshingly simple pop is a clean way to start.