Quick but not fast, warped but not wacked-out, jaunty but not insouciant. And so on. Unicycle Loves You plays pop that might just make you mental. There's plenty of psych-y reverb and more than a few trippy interstitials. But the songs themselves are tightly-wound gems.

Unicycle Loves You The Dead Age (High Wheel/Mecca Lecca)

Interest never flags, even when the band heads out into tangent land. These songs are simply too well written and arranged. The sonic dressing applied to them can get a little heavy at times, but the skeleton is more than tough enough to handle the weight.

And even with all the swirly haze these songs never lose their souls. Unicycle Loves You isn't content to do anything simply, and that's all to the good. I often lament the lack of ambition in music. That's not a problem here.

More than previous efforts, I think that ambition is being realized on this album. The songs are more complete and crafted finer. I think the band has another gear in it, and those results could be truly astonishing.

This set can be heard as ear candy or a whole lot more. I prefer both. There's nothing wrong with enjoying your vegetables. It just takes a good chef to make them tasty. The kitchen did a fabulous job with this one.

Jon Worley