Smoosh - "Free To Stay"

Well, it's definitely not She Like II - Electric Boogaloo... Sure, it still sounds adorable, but more gritty, which is probably to do with this being recorded at Avast! with Stuart Hallerman. Asya uses distortion on her keyboard more often, and Chloe is rocking the kick-hihat disco beat more often.

Otherwise, it's a bit of a departure from the last one, besides being more boppy and gritty, and seeming like the two girls have certainly been listening to Sleater-Kinney for musical inspiration, though still sticking to just keys and drums only. Whereas the first one had choice songs, this is a consistently choice album, with exceptions. "Waiting For Something" is one jarring exception, with acoustic guitar... which doesn't really work too well. "Organ Talk" is another exception, although it's a more layered organ instrumental, which does work. "Find A Way", "Rock Song", "Clap On", "Glider", "Gold", and "She's Right" are all amazing songs. "Slower Than Gold", the ending ballad which is just Asya on somber keys, is the closer.

I think when Douglas Wolk reviewed the first album two years, he mentioned how that album made him ultimately more interested in what the next album would sound like. Well, Douglas, um, I think Smoosh pretty much rips on the new one in comparison to the first one. That's just one opinion.