California’s Big Stir Records has a dazzling array of artists on its roster, but surely the jewel in their crown is Akron, Ohio based tunesmiths Librarians With Hickeys. Their albums are just such a pleasure to listen to, and while there’s no doubting their penchant for delving into sixties jangle-pop, they possess a kind of knack for also making these songs sound bang up to date.
While the band’s previous album, the debut Long Overdue, effortlessly melded Teenage Fanclub with The Byrds, this time around, on Handclaps & Tambourines, Librarians With Hickeys call to mind early R.E.M. and these largely make up the best parts of the record. ‘Lady Overdrive‘ for example is an uptempo, gloriously harmonious number in the vein of ‘Can’t Get There From Here‘ while ‘Ghost Singer‘ lies somewhere between Roger McGuinn and Lemonheads circa It’s A Shame About Ray.
‘Over You‘ is rockier altogether, starting with an, albeit less ‘in your face’, intro that recalls Rainbow‘s ‘Since You’ve Been Gone‘, with an anthemic chorus in the tradition of, say, Bachman Turner Overdrive. ‘Stumbling Down Memory Lane’ sounds like Mike Batt could have written it, and I say this as someone who regards Batt as a fantastic songwriter who is perhaps due more praise than he ostensibly gets.
The opening track of Handclaps & Tambourines is utterly swathed in the flavour of the sixties, reminding me more of the ‘British invasion’ artists such as Dave Clark Five or The Hollies than their American counterparts. It also put me in mind, to a lesser extent, of Aussie rockers Rocket Science, for some reason.
Not many bands release a great debut album and then follow it up with one even better, but Librarians With Hickeys have absolutely done that here with an album that is warm, full of heart, and very, very easy to lose yourself in. They’re quite simply one of the best American bands around right now and I hope they stick around for many years to come, if they continue to produce music of this quality.
