It was about a year ago that Linnea's Garden released the EP Nowhere Friday Nights -- one of the finest musical debuts of recent years. While I immediately took to the band's tuneful power pop punk approach, I was even more impressed with Linnea Herzog's thoughtful and relatable lyrics and the band's ability to a distill a myriad of musical influences into an uplifting and singularly unique sound. I have been delighted to discover that Fashion Show, the full-length debut album from Linnea's Garden, will be releasing April 1 on Red on Red Records. This album promises to build on the themes of Nowhere Friday Nights even as it finds the band jettisoning all limits on its musical identity. In the way of a preview, the band has released a pair of singles in "Cut & Paste" and "Looking". Based on these two tracks, I'm surmising that Fashion Show will live up to all my expectations and then some.
While it's not inaccurate to say that Linnea's Garden remains a terrific pop band, that only tells a portion of the story. The influence of disco and modern dance music -- which was hinted at previously -- has become more obvious. In these songs, I can also hear bits of pieces of everything from new wave to grunge to glam to punk to indie/alternative rock. It's such a music writer cliché to say a band has "its own sound", but no one could deny that this is absolutely true of Linnea's Garden. "Cut & Paste" is a bit of a throwback to the days when the sounds of alternative rock ignited nightclub dance floors. True to the band's broadened musical vision, it takes inspiration from everyone from Blur to Blondie to Mitski to Talk Talk to Donna Summer to John Frusciante to LCD Soundsystem. Linnea Herzog again displays a gift for writing about relationships in a way that's personal and brutally honest yet also universal. This song hits you at every level. It will have you dancing, singing along, and pondering that certain someone who continues to occupy real estate in your head. It ought to be a massive hit, and maybe it will be! "Looking" is a little more of a grower yet also quite danceable -- a song full of twists and turns and beautiful guitar/bass interplay. It's a splendid example of how to make music that's creative and original but not the least bit pretentious. Again the lyrics absolutely slay me -- but isn't that true of any Linnea's Garden song?
My initial take on Linnea's Garden was to recommend the band to fans of "any kind of music at all." That remains truer than ever. If you enjoy fun & joyful music, memorable tunes, and fantastic lyrics about love, art, and life, this is the band for you. Since I usually dread April Fool's Day like the plague, I will very much look forward to an alternative holiday: Fashion Show release day. Tour coming in April!
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