Puzzles Like You

If you enjoy Mojave 3 then you will enjoy this record. It is a bit more sunshiney happy than their last record. The album is filled with gorgeous pop songs. My only complaint is that Neil Halstead's vocal delivery is the same in every song, so other than arrangement, all the songs sound alike. They would all make killer singles (there isn't a bad song on here), but they all run together and blend.

Any band worth anything is at constant odds with their evolution in sound for fear of finding an early grave in some stagnate and forgotten pool. So, how then do you evolve somewhat gracefully without alienating all those finicky little fans of yours? Well, one simple solution is to just rev up the tempos and dust off some underused distortion pedals like Mojave 3 has done on their new LP, Puzzles Like You.

On their fifth album we find these ex-Slowdivers opting to record a much more upbeat and pop-orientated record that sounds more like something Teenage Fanclub would release than a Mojave 3 record. The generally somber and very dylanesque ballads that the band has become know for are now few and far between here. The record barely stops to catch its breath as it briskly races through tracks like ''Truck-Driving Man'', ''Breaking The Ice'' and ''Running With Your Eyes Closed'' before it comes to a lovely halt with one of Neil Halstead's most gorgeous ballads yet, ''The Mutineer.'' The punchy guitars, cheerful handclaps and pounding honky tonk pianos found on this album are now better suited for sunny-day bike rides than late-night cuddle sessions. Overall, the band has succeeded in releasing a very confident record that throws something new into the Mojave 3 formula which won't put off any loyal listeners.