The School

Spencer McGillicutty/The School
GAMES/LOVELESS UNBELIEVER-(SPENCER HOUSE/ELEFANT/MINTY FRESH)

I recently bought the much-analyzed She and Him record on a whim. I like it. I like a lot, actually. It has a great mid- to late-60s AM radio feel and while celebrity singer Zooey Deschanel's voice is quite tricked up by heavy reverb, it has a nice natural matter-of-fact feel. And really amazing songs. However, the record ultimately makes me miss, Essex Green, who did the same thing a little better and a lot earlier. That's just a six-sentence way of saying that these two releases — Games, by Spencer McGillicutty and Loveless Unbeliever by School — cut the same path as She and Him. They're both boppy and light. They could have deftly provided music for Chip's senior prom on the television show My Three Sons. (That's a subgenre in search of a label.) Of the two groups, Spencer McGillicutty, of Minneapolis, has a little better songwriting chops — I hear a bit of Carole King in here, mixed with a healthy dose of the brilliant San Francisco band the Corner Laughers. And, gotta say it, there's a lot of Carpenters going on here. "An Act of Contrition," the opening track, brings the Karen hard, as does "Telephone Signals." Beyond that, Spencer McGillicutty rocks out a bit (the utterly catchy "It's Easy to Fall in Love" and "Secret Best Friend") and turns in a gem of a tune in the introspective and garage-band-like "Claire Carnaby." In all, the four-piece outfit (which had help from 18 contributors chiming in on the glockenspiel and French horn, among other instruments), has released a fine record. The School, from Wales, might be a bit more engaging of the two bands, perhaps an assemblage that's more radio-friendly thanks to the airy production of singer Liz Hunt's rangy melodies. The entire record is punchy, bouncy, happy, beautiful. "Is He Really Coming Home?" hearkens gorgeously to 1971 AM radio (the trumpets make it sound like the Brooklyn Bridge and Hunt sings like a cooler Melanie). Throughout, the piano and acoustic guitars mesh perfectly in a sort of folk-overeager pop mash up. The highlight: "I Love Everything," a simple 1-minor 6th-4-5 that's heartbreaking and gripping at the same time. While I still miss Essex Green, I hope these bands don't mind being in the same sentence as them. It's a compliment, one that I hope Deschanel will recognize as unadulterated praise as well.