Red Lounge 2010
There are certain bands that just defy convention, and Spygenius is one of them. The combo starts this album with a mix of lounge organ, guitars and percussion with “Digden’s Rise.” It could be some alternate James Bond movie theme, with it’s dark jazz elements and stormy ending. It’s a heady start, but it yields to the brighter “Smardy’s Fish Paradise” which smacks of Neil Innes or Stackridge with a ramble about English love. This style continues on “The Ballad Of Jack Snipe” where the XTC tradition of multiple themes and rhythms layered one after the other make a compelling listen. Guitar strum and handclaps lead the song “Stupid” and the stream of consciousness lyrics help keep it listenable. Unfortunately, the band seems to fall into a self-indulgent spiral on “Matter Out Of Place,” but they recover nicely on the great “First Do No Harm” which sounds like it fell off of a classic Crosby Stills Nash album. The album loosely tries to shift musical gears with each tune, and it doesn’t always work. “You’ve Got A Lucky Face” and few other tracks speed up tempo or volume to point where they feel forced. Thankfully another gem here “The Girl Who’s Everywhere” fills the air with Byrdsian guitars and vocals, and “Trolls” is a six-minute epic that any Stackridge fan will cheer loudly to. Eclectic listeners will find Spygenius a real treat. Powerpopaholic
 
Track Listing
1. Digden's Rise
2. Smardy's Fish paradise
3. The Ballad of Jack Snipe
4. This Morning After
5. Stupid
6. Matter Out of Place
7. First Do No Harm
8. You've Got a Lucky Face
9. Don't Sing to Me of Medicine When You're the Disease
10. The Girl Who's Everywhere
11. Trolls
12. Waimanalo