Can we rightfully call an album that comes out on May 1st a "summer" release? Can we even call it an album if it only has seven songs? I suppose those questions are up for debate. But since I find such debates largely obnoxious, I'm going to say "yes" and "yes" in the case of The Chelsea Curve's The Rideout, out now on Rum Bar Records. On its second album, the Boston-based trio is giving feelgood vibes all day long. Some recent years were trying for The Chelsea Curve, but the band has endured it all and now finds itself inspired and excited about what's ahead.
The theme of The Rideout comes through loudly and clearly: life is short, so live it up! "This record is about living for the moment, being with your people, and just enjoying life," says bassist/vocalist Linda Pardee. That spirit comes through not just in the lyrics but also in the music. If anything, coming back from all that adversity has energized the trio's sound. While the Chelsea Curve still lives in that mod/punk/pop lane, this album in particular puts the "power" in power pop. Pardee, guitarist Tim Gillis, and dynamo drummer Bruce Caporal tear into these tunes with force and vigor, and what results is 20 minutes of infectious and incredibly exciting music. If I might be so bold as to call this the first summer record of 2026, then the timing of its release was certainly no coincidence. This is your soundtrack to the good times that lie in front and ahead of you — some of which will certainly involve you at the wheel of some sort of motor vehicle with the sun shining and the wind at your back, en route to days and nights of adventure, romance, fun, and friendship.
The leanness of The Rideout is almost certainly by design. Every song clocks in somewhere in the neighborhood to two-to-three minutes and embodies perfect pop with a whole lot of snap and crackle. Three of these songs were released as digital singles last year, yet it feels like these seven tracks were meant to be heard together and in this precise order. "Ride" is the tone-setter — a song that literally invites the listener to join along in living for the moment. Last year's summer hit "Kindawanna" is the perfect follow-up — an ode to all those things you can't wait to do with that present or future special someone in your life. After another vintage Chelsea Curve mod-pop bopper in "Outta My Head," there are some cool surprises. "Never Come Down," another song about seizing a magical moment, features Gillis on lead vocals and channels Oasis by way The Who in its psychedelic era. "I Can't Help It" is an homage to Letters To Cleo and the heyday of Boston indie power pop. The band goes full-on "freedom rock" on closing track "Rally 'Round," and any skepticism I may have originally had about this song was wiped away as soon as I heard how it and "Ride" bookend the album with affirmations of community and hope.
Arriving four years after its predecessor All the Things, The Rideout captures a considerably evolved and revitalized Chelsea Curve. The sound is bigger and more layered, and the vibe is so joyful and optimistic that some might take it as corny. But as Pardee says, "Life's way too short to be precious." Rebounding from dark times and riding the spark that a drummer like Caporal can bring to a band, The Chelsea Curve is in the mood for (as a wise man once put it) rocking out and having fun. So yeah, this is not just a summer album. It's THE summer album. Push play and raise a glass to life!
https://rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-rideout
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