Telekinesis - 12 Desperate Straight Lines (Merge, 2011)

Telekinesis
12 Desperate Straight Lines
Merge
2011

Rating: 7.5 late night television psychics out of 10

There's no substitute for a great pop song, and god knows this Telekinesis record is awash with them. It's only fitting that Merge has released both of their records, because if a band could give birth this is what the offspring of Superchunk would & should sound like. Especially Superchunk at their most power pop - the late nineties with "Indoor Living" and "Come Pick Me Up". "12 Desperate Straight Lines" just hits you over the head with one catchy song after another, barely letting you come up for air - just hook after hook for nearly 33 minutes. The album hits it's high point with "Car Crash", as catchy a song as I've heard in years and one that will certainly be stuck in my head for the foreseeable future.

This album is going to go two directions for me, and it's way too early to know which direction that is. It's so sugary-saccharine sweet and addictive that it's entirely possible I burn myself out on it quickly, like eating too much cake*. Or it could be something I visit often for years to come, like a good chocolate milkshake from your favorite ice cream parlor. Because there is nothing better in this world than a good chocolate milkshake**.

*This is clearly a theoretical proposition, as I've yet to reach the point of "too much cake". I'll keep trying though.

**And when I say "chocolate milkshake", I mean a proper one made with chocolate ice cream; none of that black-and-white bullshit with the vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.