Roger Houdaille has been recording as Ex Norwegian (with a rotating collection of mates) for more than a decade now. He's always landed somewhere within the power pop region, but he's willing to take a few side trips along the way.

Ex Norwegian Hue Spotting Spotting Hues (Beyond Before)

That inerrant sense of melody and hook is still here, but he's decided to veer into 60s-era psychedelic pop a bit heavier this time out. And Ex Norwegian has two albums to parse. The first, Hue Spotting, is the usual set of well-appointed eccentric pop songs (again, heavier in the psychedelia) that we have come to expect. Spotting Hues is all covers of the psychedelic pop that has inspired Houdaille. And if you tell me you are familiar with more than two or three songs on that album, I will know that you've got at least 10 years on my aged carcass.

This sort of thing is easier in the digital era. There's no need to print up a thousand CDs of a covers album. Just record the thing, master it and throw it out there. But it's also brilliant. I wish more people would consider this. Sure, it's cool to hear what is in a band's ears as it puts together an album, but as a critic it is even more interesting to hear how a band interprets its influences. Wouldn't you like to have heard Uncle Tupelo play a Replacements song? Oh, wait, I've got a soundboard recording of that . . . and it's really revealing. Ex Norwegian makes that sort of examination all that much easier.

This sort of enterprise can be dangerous. The songs on Spotting Hues are simpler and tighter than those on Hue Spotting, and as such they're more easily accessible. Ex Norwegian has always been one of those bands that colors a bit outside the lines, and its songs are more experimental and expansive--if only just a bit. What's most interesting is how different the two albums sound, even though they are closely linked. But not matter how intriguing this set is for geeks like me, the test is in the tunes. And, once again, Ex Norwegian is aces.

Jon Worley