Sometimes it’s the smallest touches that make you smile—like a group that plays distinctively 1978-esque New Wave power-pop that names its imprint after a lyric fragment from The Cars’ self-titled debut (“It’s just a broken lullaby” from “Bye Bye Love”). Irish trio Slumberjet’s sound may owe as much to the Beatles and Elvis Costello as Rik Ocasek and company, but the vibe is the vibe, and the nod is both cheeky and dead on target.

Slumberjet is a vehicle for the songs of Barry O’Brien (vocals and guitar), supported principally by Keith Farrell (bass, production), Aidan O’Grady (drums and percussion) and Duncan Maitland (keyboards), with Eric Mathews contributing occasional brass, and several other guests who help fill out an often quite full band sound.

The resulting album is resonant, classicist power pop that draws equally from multiple foundational influences in the genre, a well-balanced cocktail of melody and aggression. Opener “The Strangest Game” sets a lyric charting the prelude to a breakup (“How many chances do you give? / Before you free yourself from all these tears”) to a driving backbeat, with an organ tone fresh off of This Year’s Model. The sonic playfulness accelerates on the similarly angst-ridden “The Letter,” as synth replaces organ, along with firm riffs, breakdowns and build-ups, wordless chanted hooks, and various other power-pop iconography.

“Sisters In The Sky” mixes things up a bit, a mid-tempo, rather lounge-y number featuring piano, brushed drums and horns, later adding strings as well; other than the subtle synth accents, it’s a number that wouldn’t feel out of place on Revolver. The rather plainly titled “C Song” delivers punchy guitars and harmonies and an adventurous bass line, with O’Brien’s fiery little solo putting an exclamation point on things.

“Cut Me Out” dials up the ’90s with hints of both Oasis and Fastball in its simultaneously punchy and swaying feel. Then “Under The Waves” opens playfully with a carousel melody that then bounces into a heavier tune, with a pulsing, steady back beat, as a funky little synthesizer gradually infiltrates, leading to a nice breakdown-and-bust-out bridge. “Say goodbye to those bitter years,” O’Brien declares on the urgently paced “Gone,” with the synth asserting itself again in a dense, shifting arrangement.

Things continue to evolve on the back end, as Farrell pens the distinctly Beatlesque “You Stole,” all dreamy vocals over acoustic strums until the horns come in (and I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that turning a word like “fall” into three distinct syllables was a Lennon thing). Up next, “Breakfast Time” pushes the synth up front once more before delving into second-half breakdowns with distorted vocals and heavy chords. Then “Feather Brain (Part 2)” offers an 80-second interlude consisting of keyboards, triangle, and wordless vocals. 

The biggest outlier here, “Truth,” falls second to last, a mid-tempo, intense number with heavier guitars than much of the rest of the album. Closer “Thanks” is where O’Brien offers a straight-up homage to his first and foremost influences: “Thanks for the show. Thanks for all these lessons that I've learned,” he sings on a number that smacks of The Fab Four from the opening orchestral flourish (Mellotron?), to the layered and distorted vocals, thumping “Sgt. Pepper’s” backbeat, stabbing blues guitar, oompa horns, and this winking line: “Searching for the sun (well here it comes).” Yes indeed it does.

Slumberjet may wear their influences on their sleeves, but they are entirely authentic about it; they live inside these familiar sounds and make new, original music with them. Using all the characteristic ingredients, Slumberjet cooks up a hearty meal of classicist power-pop that’s bound to please the palate of any connoisseur of the genre.

Rating: B+

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