“Dean’s Room” by Allison Crutchfield

“Dean’s Room” is the first single, 3 months ahead of the release of an album called “Tourist in this Town” by Allison Crutchfield. The more you hear it, the more you want to hear it again. Pop perfection.

A song from the excellent Allison Crutchfield mini album “Lean In To It” was featured here on PopLib two years ago. That was more sparse and mellow melodic fuzzy synth-pop by comparison to this first tune from the new album, due out 27 January 2017.

“Dean’s Room” is firing on all cylinders – pummeling drums, distorted bass, an epic cheesy synth melody, nagging guitar lines and a sublime vocal delivery. If this new tune is any indication of the album, the pace and intensity has been ratcheted up to New Wave levels and the pop-tastic melodic quotient rivals any classic Blondie tunes.

‘No One Talks’ by Allison Crutchfield

When I was younger, and read too many science fiction books, I used to imagine what it would be like to be able to hear everyone’s thoughts. I was convinced the initial attraction of a telepathic mind would soon become a curse.

I’m not sure what any of that has to do with “No one Talks”. But hearing this song triggered that memory.

There’s something perfect and personal about all of ‘Lean In To It’, a 7 song mini-album of fuzzy, buzzy guitars and grainy, epic synth-pop, from Allison Crutchfield. You might recognise the surname – Allison is in the band Swearin’ and twin sister Katie Crutchfield records as Waxahatchee.

Unlike the frenetic punk/ garage churn of Swearin’ these solo recordings (with Sam Cook-Parrott) sometimes reminded me of hearing the first two Magnetic Fields albums (‘Distant Plastic Trees’ & ‘The Wayward Bus’, combined together on a Merge CD), back when Claudia Gonson sang most of the vocals. ‘Lean in To It’ is a different beast, but there’s something just as epic, insular, home-made & confessional about this and I can’t really explain it in any other way. I like it a lot.