Allo, Darlin', Europe, 2012

Sunday Run Album Review 

It’s funny.  I think my music listening goes in cycles. I’m not sure if it’s related to mood.  Have I really found myself mellowing as I’ve focused less on pop-punk and hard rock and more on plain, old pop?  I don’t think so.  I think it’s kind of a viral, six degrees of separation thing.  For example, Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus is a big fan of Fucked Up.  Fucked Up’s “Queen of Hearts” features Cults’ Madeline Follin on vocals.  Cults are one of a crop of enjoyable, new pop bands.  Another of those is Hospitality with their kind of tweeish, brit-poppy sound.  Allo, Darlin’ is a pop group based in Britain.

According to the series of ominous sounding text messages I’ve received from the New Jersey State Police over the last few days, we’re in the midst of a Nor’easter, so if I ever do go for a run today, I’ll be leaving the iPhone behind.  Instead, I’ve spent a boring, rainy Sunday hanging mirrors and listening to Allo, Darlin’'s Europe.

Allo, Darlin’ is the vehicle for Australian singer-songwriter Elizabeth Morris’s well-crafted pop compositions.  Morris doesn’t lose her Aussie accent when singing like so many other singers, and that’s an important component of Allo, Darlin’'s overall sound.  Other band members, Brits Michael Collins and Paul Rains, and Australian Bill Botting, do an excellent job of bringing to life Morris's songs about life on a new continent.

“Capricornia’s” twelve-string riffs harken back to Fables of the Reconstruction-era Peter Buck.  “Some People Say,” contains a line about wishing on satellites that made this Billy Bragg fan smirk.  In fact, much of the album is reminiscent of some of Bragg’s less political songs like “The Saturday Boy” and “St. Swithin’s Day” in overall atmosphere.  “Tallulah” is just Morris on ukulele, singing to someone she left behind in Australia about their times together and her new life in England.  Europe’s songs are all draped in ukulele, twelve-string, and lap steel and are a nice fit with a lazy Sunday.

Europe is available digitally now in all the usual places.  The album comes out physically, on Slumberland, in May, and if your own musical journey has somehow brought you to the singer-songwriter driven pop stage, then it's worth checking out.