Souvenirs by California Oranges (Review)

It’s nearly the middle of October and Lincoln is finally getting around to entering autumn. This week was the first week I remember it getting even halfway chilly and overcast, such that I could actually see my breath while walking to work. Which is to say that now might not be best time to start listening to California Oranges’ Souvenirs.

As the name might imply, this is bright, shiny, shimmery California pop of the highest variety, full of diamond-sharp hooks, sugary-sweet melodies, and male/female vocals par excellence. But with its longing tone in both the vocals and lyrics, Souvenirs is the sort of album you listen to around late May/early June, when you spend your days looking forward to your summer crush(es). It’s not really the sort of music you want to listen to when the days are turning colder and greyer and you spend your days realizing the bitter truth that you’re going to all alone for the long winter.

With 12 tracks clocking in at just under 35 minutes, the album moves at a pretty good pace, though it takes a few tracks to warm up. At times, the disc’s focus on syrupy-sweet songwriting means things feel a little fluffy and silly at times. But then, a track like “Next Season” comes along, with its slightly more insistent tone, sharper guitars, and Katie Haley’s gorgeous vocals harmonizing with each other Fleetwood Mac-style, and you realize there’s really no stopping the disc’s charm.

And the shoegazer in me feels compelled to note the drifty, Lush-like moments that float through the disc like, well, summer clouds on “Racing Here” and “Keep Me Guessing.” “Knives On The Table,” however, is the disc’s most sublime moment, due in equal part to John Conley’s fragile, Bob Wratten-esque vocals and the song’s bouncy melodies and interweaving guitars. It’s almost enough to make one forget the chill to come.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to pull out my Hood discs. Fall’s been a long time in coming, and winter is going to be around for quite awhile at this rate. I need to prepare myself.