June & The Exit Wounds – A Little More Haven Hamilton, Please (1999)

ALLMUSIC One might be tempted to think the front cover says virtually all you need to know about A Little More Haven Hamilton, Please. A framed picture of Brian Wilson in deep thought sits on the tape deck over a keyboard while Todd Fletcher, looking clean-cut and suburban, ponders over that next appropriate guitar chord. And, well, one wouldn’t be too far off. The band name sounds pulled from the bowels of CBGB’s circa 1977, but the music of Fletcher — who is the totality of June & the Exit Wounds — is gorgeous afternoon pop/rock that frequently kneels at the chamber pop altar of Wilson via the one-man production flair of Todd Rundgren. Simultaneously Fletcher is both ’90s savvy and cognizant of all the styles of sophisticated pop that preceded it. He presents a modernized slant on guileless romanticism in the course of pulling together all the softest, sleekest qualities of pop music from the ’60s and ’70s and giving them a renewed, unpretentious gloss. The album employs the crafted sheen of Steely Dan throughout, and especially on songs such as the breezy “How Much I Really Loved You” and “Hey Hey Hey.” Saccharine but tender Bee Gees sentimentality gets a workout on “You’re Breaking My Heart,” a spartan tune that nevertheless has epic levels of emotional attachment. There is a sweet ode to dance-music princess “Cathy Dennis” that is confounding as a musical influence (given Fletcher’s stylistic m.o.) but entirely heartbreaking as a puppy love paean. True to its muse, though, the song manages to take on a disco varnish without abandoning the album’s pop/rock base, ending up remarkably close to Classics IV territory. And the album even goes beyond rock on occasion.

Blossom Dearie gets a thank you in the liner notes, and that influence comes to pass in fabulous jazzy lounge ballads like “I Shouldn’t Be Surprised” and “Straight to My Head,” complete with brushed drums and vibes that lend a somber, heartsick lilt to the music. Brian Wilson, however, remains the picture on Fletcher’s wall. He sings in a honey-coated, falsetto croon that is often a dead ringer for Wilson, and his showers of harmonies are Beach Boy-worthy, particularly on the breathtaking “Highway Noise.” The same adult innocence that characterizes Pet Sounds and SMiLE, too, shows up on “Let’s Shack Up Together,” a sumptuously arranged confection that is all heart-on-sleeve, dressing up what is actually a pretty serious, life-altering suggestion in child-like naïveté. (The LP version of the album comes accompanied by a bonus 7″ with two exclusive songs, and one of them — “I Can See You” — picks up right where “Surf’s Up” from the Beach Boys’ Smile left off.) A Little More Haven Hamilton, Please is a fabulous soft rock exercise, easy listening bliss, even when it is wrenching the extremes of sorrow from its softhearted soul. It is an overlooked gem of polished and sparkling songcraft. \\ Stanton Swihart

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My Rate: 6.8/10

Vídeo de “Let’s Shack Up Together” (audio only)