Pop Co-Op – Factory Settings (4 out of 5)
Your ears only need to do a sound check of the influences that the band calls out for themselves when asked what was in their record selection growing up and you will know instantly the joie-de-vie inherent in this intoxicating North Eastern Band. Among others, the key contributors to their musical DNA would be The Beatles, Squeeze, The Beach Boys, The Kinks, Rockpile, and Elvis Costello, just to name a few. The vibe is mostly Power Pop with a healthy dose of Americana and Psychedelic dustings dropped in just to make things even more interesting. On this, their sophomore effort, the band offers a more mature set of songs with more concise songwriting courtesy of Steve Stoeckel and Bruce Gordon. With shining examples including “Catching Light” and “Underworld” demonstrating the band’s Power Prop proficiency. They also cut a mean rug on the ballad front, case in point “Sleeve,” a solo Mccartney era-inspired stunner.
There is nothing not to like on this record with “The Price of Admission” complete with preamble cowbell, the Chuck Berry inspired “Won’t Be Me,” and “Requiescat”, a song that could have been a single on George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, as clear genre-diverse winners.
It is somewhat difficult to comprehend that a band that centers itself around a lead singer that wears cat-eye glasses, plays the ukelele and cites 
bird watching as one of her hobbies could be cool, let alone hip, but that is exactly what this band is, and even more so. The lyrics and melodies are catchy as hell and the songwriting has a complexity about it that separates the group from most of the hipster Power Pop bands of the day. While on previous records, the ukelele is the star of the show, here, Karla Kane’s go-to instrument is used as sort of an accent piece, hummingbird-like floating and landing in just the right places making its presence known at just the right time. Every track on this immensely underrated record is brilliantly constructed and immensely ear-pleasing. Whether it is “Sisters of the Pollen” with a sort of vim and vigor that is sorely lacking in today’s music or “Goodbye Sun,” a shimmery pastoral beauty that is perfect lounging in the garden sweetness, every nuance of this record will make you wonder why you have never heard of this band before.
Rock Is The New Roll 