The Fragile Army

TVT Records

Opinions divide sharply on The Polyphonic Spree’s overblown gospel choir approach to pop music—some people find the massive Flaming Lips-inspired sonic blast to be irrepressibly smile-inducing, while others consider the entire exercise to be a cheap manipulative trick built on hippie platitudes and empty showmanship. I guess I’m in the former camp, being a sucker for the trumpet-and-flute filigrees and middle school choir backing vocals. The new album is merely an extension of their previous two releases, with the most notable difference being shorter songs. The first single “Running Away” hits something alarmingly close to rock by its ecstatic outro, but there’s still a heavier emphasis on, let’s just say it, cheese. “Guaranteed Nightlite” features an obvious note-for-note allusion to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” there’s a positively Elizabethan brass fanfare in the build-up of “Younger Yesterday,” and more than once does an innocuous melody from a famous Sesame Street tune flutter by in the undertexture of “The Championship.” Loving The Polyphonic Spree is a lot like loving watermelon-flavored chewing gum—the nutrition value is nil, but the sensation is sharp enough to make your inner child gleeful.

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