Review: Pomegranates - Two Eyes

Label: self-releassed

Released: 2007

Pomegranates have crafted an EP that knocks on the doors of Casiotone indie pop, pop punk and everything in between. The first few bars of "The Children's Progress" sound an awful lot like Postal Service, but before you can get settled into that, it takes a turn down a crooked post-punk street. They follow that with the core of their indie pop sound. There are more layers than it's worth counting, because the place they meet is so satisfying it doesn't matter how they got there. Just when the sweet melodies lull the album into complacency, ringing guitars and quirky rhythms keep everything from falling into that misplaced comfort.

Two Eyes is the kind of record that shakes you, but gently. As it meanders from happy to dark, from melodic to noisy, it avoids typical pop conventions to invent its own direction. Such endeavors often spell disaster, but not here. Pomegranates have found a way to make the gentle every bit as wild a ride as many more jarring albums. Even after multiple listens, I'm still not quite sure how they managed that.

They've already recorded their full-length debut, due out in Spring 2008 on Lujo Records.

Rating: 8/10

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