Turners Corner

Album Review

The self-titled debut album by Seattle indie trio Turners Corner owes a little more than geography with fellow Washingtonians Minus the Bear. Although guitarist/keyboardist Todd Maloy doesn't share the other band's fascination with speedy neck-tapping guitar solos, his songs are similarly odd amalgamations of indie pop hooks, post-rock noodling, and obscure, oblique lyrics. For example, opening track "Balloon Ride" is a catchy guitar-and-synth tune that sounds not unlike a slightly more experimental version of the Shins, but it's underlaid with bits of distorted walkie-talkie speech with little obvious relation to the rest of the song. Like that song, the entire album skates right on the edge of being annoyingly precious and clever-clever. However, Maloy has an appealing singing voice that forsakes the needling whininess of so many of his indie rock brethren, and although some of the songs have an annoying tendency to wander about for 45 to 60 seconds too long near the end, he writes some good melodies. Turners Corner are the sort of band who, once they get all of the artsy stuff out of their system, could make a really good, brainy pop album along the lines of the Loud Family. This album isn't there yet, but it bodes well for future development.