Sometimes song titles alone can transport you into a landscape, and a quick rundown of those on Loose Opinions‘ debut album takes you into a very dark place: “Black Hole Eyes,” “Yesterday Never Arrives,” “Conspiracy is Real.” But don’t pull out your Goth makeup just yet; when you drop the needle, you hear the grooves pop like a strobe light party just erupted.
Such are the contradictions of Shadow of a Shadow, released tomorrow in digital and vinyl formats on Back to the Light Records. And in a way, these contradictions are familiar to anyone versed in the alternative pop of the 80s: an era when that distinct blend of enervated optimism and paranoia just made sense. If Mark Twain once quipped that “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme,” perhaps our times rhyme with those last days of the Cold War.
In that sense, Loose Opinions’ album, “created during the global pandemic, July 2020 – February 2021,” suits us all, and it’s not a mere retread of 80s tropes. True, sparkling synthesizer sounds cascade through every song, and, as those blend with New Wave guitar jabs, the overall vibe is reminiscent of XTC. Yet some tunes (“Conspiracy is Real”) conjure up Dexy’s Midnight Runners more than anything. All comparisons aside, what they share is solid songwriting and a deft use of hooks, simultaneously pared-down and intriguingly woven.
Nearly all of it but the occasional horn section springs from the mind, hands, feet, and wistful voice of Graham Burks, Jr. From sideman to band leader, he’s been a longtime fixture on the local punk and alt-pop scene. In this case, he is the band, having “written, performed, recorded, and produced” the album.
It helps that he is a solid and inventive drummer. Most tracks zip along with propelling grooves, all parts locking in with the rhythm, but even the mid-tempo numbers have a solid heft and stomp to them. That heft lends album closer “Note to Self” the grandiose sweep of classic power pop, as Burks seems to languish in the heart of last year’s lockdown, “Things they taught you and the way things turned out/Counting stars and counting days,” only to conclude that you can “forge your own path.”
“Better make a note to self,” Burks muses. “Remember this conversation.” After the album’s tug-of-war between optimism and paranoia, he strikes a cautiously hopeful note and reflects on lessons learned. Delving into the shadows could do us all some good.
Shadow of a Shadow will be featured at the Back to the Light Listening Party at the Memphis Listening Lab, Friday, August 20, 5-8 p.m. Proof of vaccination required, maximum capacity of 50. Free.
Loose Opinions will play a record release show, with Jack Oblivian opening and Marcella Simien closing, at Bar DKDC, Saturday, August 21, 8 p.m. $15.
