Smith Westerns - Soft Will

 
One of many 2011 acts who were new to me at the time, and therefore tasked me with the awkward process of finding their earlier stuff, Chicago band Smith Westerns sat perfectly betwixt my then-desires to find more alternative, new music and a love of classic rock. Dye it Blonde was much-loved for its unashamed reverence for glam rock and generally upbeat, psychedelic vibe. It was much more nostalgic and indebted to the earlier parts of the 20th century than its previous self-titled counterpart; largely a nice, but unexciting bunch of garage tunes.

Now, with their third album they've done something of an abridgement of the two. Soft Will finds the Omori brothers (and can I just say that Cullen Omori is an awesome name? It sounds like a Japanese Twilight-inspired dish) going down a rather shoegazier, dare I say poppier route. It goes without saying that the band are never destined for crossover success, but it can't hurt to branch out and pick up a few new fans, can it?

The record picks up very much where Dye it Blonde left off: '3AM Spiritual' (surely a KLF reference - but I see no other comparison) is plucky, melodic and a lusciously sunny composition that soon introduces glam rock (following a melodramatic piano segue) elements and grooves its way out in a way that'd make Bowie proud. It's hardly a Dye continuation, though: 'Idol', if anything, is distinctly new wave and vaguely goth-rock in its appearance, where "everyday's a blessing/ everyday's a hangover" following the grim realisation that someone wasn't all they were cracked up to be. There's even a brief Eagles moment on the intro to 'Glossed', but the band have no difficulty in making themselves fresh and individual: the track goes on to find themselves as optimists ("would you need to see, if you could just believe it?") before the sombre instrumental 'XXIII' (unlucky for some) counters that mood quite well.

Occasionally, the band are guilty of tossing aside songwriting (at least, lyrically) in favour of some fun, sweet-sounding music. On 'Fool Proof' you'd be congratulated for finding Cullen's message in amongst all of the shiny loveliness, and this is one reason the band will never quite be fully embraced by the angst-ridden emotional wrecks that are the mass majority of online indie fans. As if miraculously picking upon this lack of depth, they follow up with 'White Oath', an alienated anthem that sees the band "chain smoke the days away". "Tried my best to carry on/ I'm not a genius", Omori sighs, as though reading my mind.

Fans of the band, though, will likely not come to expect contemplative soul-searching music. 'Only Natural' and its rich, classic rock & roll rhythm gives them a fine selling point for what they do best: craft wonderful rock tracks. Another is 'Best Friend', an unashamed tribute track that's as cute as it is heartfelt. There's a slight mis-step with the spotlit, almost too retro ballad 'Cheer Up', but it's more than made up for with the hooking, psychedelic 'Varsity'.

For me, the moods and the themes have matured and improved drastically, but Soft Will doesn't quite enamour me with its music in the same way as Dye it Blonde did; hence the lower score. Still a very enjoyable listen, though.

Rating: 7.5/10
Highlights: Varsity; 3am Spiritual; Only Natural; Idol; White Oath
Avoid: n/a

Artwork Watch: Not really a lot to say about this one.
Up next: Chance the Rapper