Though the size of their catalog may fool you, Smith Westerns are actually a fairly young band. Soft Will, the quartet's third full length album, is an ambitious body of work produced by Chris Coady (Beach House, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV On The Radio). The collaboration has sculpted an easy to listen to album with flowing textures, deliberate garage rock messiness, and echoing dream vocals. The songs surprise the listener with their many thematic shifts, though there is always a “cool” laid back vibe.
The opening track, "3AM Spiritual," is one of Smith Westerns' strongest. Singer/guitarist Cullen Omori opens the tune lightly singing “It's easier to think you're dumb, like you were.” Budding layers of instrumentation follow, leading to a climactic George Harrison inspired guitar solo. The striking thing about this song, and also about the album, is that Cullen sings so softly and carelessly, it's easy to forget that hooks are being cemented into your memory. One may not think that these songs are catchy until the next day... when they are unconsciously being hummed. What a sneaky band!
The other standout track here is album closer, “Varsity.” A highly infectious synth riff dominates this song possibly about high school loneliness. The jam hooks you in from the beginning and grooves well throughout. You should play it more than once.
Though Soft Will is a very listenable album, it is far from extraordinary. The lyrics are often confusing and meaningless. Most songs go on longer than they should, and guitar solos are thrown in a little too often. Still, every song on the album is worth your time, and it's easy to play through all ten in one sitting.
If you want solid and catchy summer music, look no further than Soft Will.
Grade: B+
