FFWD Weekly
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| CD REVIEW SAINT ETIENNE · Fifth album from English dream pop trio. · Limited edition North American pressing includes an 11-track bonus CD. At the age of 31, Sarah Cracknell drives sports cars through Paris - daily. Since their debut in 1990, Saint Etienne have come to epitomize European sugar pop. They've had imitators (The Cardigans), but have never lost their throne as cigarette-and-coffee culture's royal family. Good Humor, simply put, raises the stakes on the band's pop supremacy. Moving away from electronica, Saint Etienne have focused on their melodies. While the band have a history of turning 20 words into a four-minute slice of heaven, Good Humor finds the band lyrically stronger than past efforts, delivering fully instead of just a few choice singles. Again, the band's not trying to solve the world's problems, choosing instead to concentrate on life's little joys: finding an open bar, convertibles on sunny days, the sound of Radio Boston sneaking through the night air of mainstreet U.S.A., and dumping a girlfriend because she turned the disco down. Good Humor is about as perfect as a pop record can get. Sarah Cracknell's voice is as sweet as ever while Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs create waves of vibes, synthesizers, trumpet and piano that come together like a Henry Mancini soundtrack to a mid-'60s movie. Good Humor is as fresh as a crisply pressed pair of capri pants. 5/5 |