THE DETAILS play tonight (Thursday, June 30) at C’est What. See listing Rating: NNN
Much of the Details’ promotion of Lost Art has focused on their decision to turn down legendary Runaways producer (and recent movie villain) Kim Fowley in favour of Weakerthans guitarist Stephen Carroll and the National engineer Brandon Reid. Presumably, it’s an attempt to play up their indie cred, but the Winnipeg quartet’s sophomore LP still sounds like a polished, crowd-pleasing slab of meat-and-potatoes roots rock.
It’s not that the album is over-calculated for optimal radio play there’s just plenty for mainstream audiences to grab onto. The band achieves the same relatable yearning as the Weakerthans, filling the album with twangy, longing, minor-key hooks. Jon Plett often sings in the first- and second-person, turning the tunes into story-songs even when they strive beyond typical tales of heartbreak (like the clever slacktivism send-up Lazy Activists). And though the songs blend together, the arrangements are more sophisticated than they seem on first listen.
Top track: Weightless In The Dark
