Friday, September 30, 2022

The Airport 77s - We Realize You Have a Choice


I didn't want to make any puns about The Airport 77s "taking flight" or "reaching new heights" on their new album We Realize You Have a Choice (out today on the world-famous JEM Records). But then I read the press release about how this album "finds the fly boys of power pop spreading their wings" and thought, "Yeah, that totally nails it!" The Airport 77s (guitarist Andy Sullivan, bassist Chuck Dolan, and drummer John Kelly) have graduated to four-stripe status on their proper full-length debut. If you didn't already know there was more to this D.C. area trio than new wave nostalgia and hilarious costumes, you'll find out soon enough once you push play. We Realize You Have a Choice is packed with hits from front to back. I feel it would be reckless of me to say that this is the best album JEM has ever released. So I'll show some proper restraint and just say that JEM has never released anything better than this. 

The name of the album is funny largely because it's true: the choices for a music consumer in 2022 are literally limitless. There's so much music out there competing for your time, attention, and disposable income. You will be well-served to give all of the above to We Realize You Have a Choice — one of the finest power pop/rock albums to come out in quite some time. This release proves that the best way to make a power pop album is to not make a power pop album. Don't get me wrong: this release features a couple of perfect power pop songs. Latest single "One Good Thing About Summer" has been tearing up the indie radio charts for weeks, and "All Torn Up Over Tina" (co-written by Kelly and the great J.P. McDermott) could pass for a lost classic from the early '80s. But rather than supplement these A+ power pop songs with lesser power pop songs (as many, many bands do), The Airport 77s have elected to apply their mastery of hummable melodies, clever wordplay, and earworm choruses to a variety of musical styles. Are you feeling some '80s AOR pop-rock? Could you dig a synth-pop dance track? How about a little arena rock, lounge pop, indie rock, hard rock, and even a birthday song? The Airport 77s can fly you anywhere you want! 

We Realize You Have a Choice is that rare album where there's no drop-off from a great single. The aforementioned birthday song, "Birthday Girl," has all the makings of a new standard. One part sweet love song and one part party anthem, it's destined to become a staple of birthday girls' nights out everywhere. I love how the song comes on unassumingly enough and then just knocks you out with that chorus! Bar owners: get this song on your playlist, and you will sell drinks galore! "Losers Win," which packs an entire short story into three and a half minutes of massively catchy rock and roll, also highlights the band's flair for epic choruses. "Somebodies," with its stacked lead vocals and anthemic feel, sounds like something that could have been on the radio back in the '80s — when pop music still moved small-town kids to dream big. That line "I'll never be nobody with somebody like you" could have been cheesy, but The Airport 77s make it sound genuinely inspirational. Plus it models how to properly use a double negative. "The Way She Moves" takes things into full-on hard rock territory and is genuinely awesome. "Bad Together" would not sound out of place on the Valley Girl soundtrack. "Alone Together" has made me a believer in jazz-influenced power pop (Yeah! Really!). Back in storytelling mode, "Drinking Alone" finds its heartbroken protagonist spiraling towards rock bottom — but bouncing back to a regular shaving routine and a steady diet of wheatgrass smoothies and spinach shakes. Did I mention something about earworm choruses? Bonus points must be awarded for an REM reference that doubles as a DC–adjacent geography joke. 

With We Realize You Have a Choice, The Airport 77s have made a rock album for people who love power pop. Or is it a power pop album for people who love rock? This release has it all: should-be radio hits, arena-sized rockers, and even some stellar deep cuts ("Since the Circus Left Town" snuck its way into my brain and has been residing there for weeks). It captures the essence of classic music from the '70s and '80s without getting itself stuck there. If you'd like to hear some great pop-rock made by stellar musicians and singers, you'll want to book your reservation in short order. Every seat on this flight is first class.


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