Psychic Friend are an indie pop band from L.A. that features Will Schwartz, who also plays guitar for Imperial Teen.
Musically, the full-length is quite charming. Just about every track features a jangly keyboard hook that is pleasantly layered over your basic indie elements. “Silent Show,” for example, comes in with upbeat, hard-hitting drums immediately followed by one of the group’s signature keyboard bits. “Once A Servant” is a song born to get into your bones, and if it’s not already in a commercial for an Apple product, it definitely should be.
The band manages to convey a decent amount of emotion through the music and harmonies, but it is unfortunate that the lead vocals are unable to follow suit, as there is a clear lack of memorable or meaningful lines. Precisely yet often generically rhymed, the lyrics give the impression that they were written by first constructing a list of rhyming terms and then building a clause off of each one to the rhythm of the music.
Psychic Friend have built an album that definitely lives up to its pop format. It is catchy to the point of being addictive, and has value as a novelty, but falters if looked upon as a really heavy set of compositions. It is pleasant to listen to, but fails to reach out and really grab the listener for much longer than the time that a song is playing.
In A Word: Simple
