Standard Fare
Out Of Sight, Out Of Town

If it weren't for nonchalant users like moi, DeBaser would be nothing more than the old folks' home of OndaRock, where overgrown ex-hippies and metalheads review progressive albums at least 30 years old, not to mention being overrun by fakes reviewing Kylie Minghioug and the like. Am I a savior? No, and I'll prove it to you by handing you the review of the umpteenth Albion pop-rock group.

The beauty of some records is up to us to uncover. In the case of Standard Fare, it is well hidden behind the lightness of the arrangements and the immediacy of the melodies, enough to give their sound more detractors than anything else. Yet in this second album, there is beauty, well dosed in a mix of different styles: pop-punk acts as the thread weaving through compositions ranging from purely melodic ones (“The Look Of Lust”, “Darth Vader”) to folk ballads (“Half Sister”), with ska-flavored incursions (“Dead Future”) and surf (“Crystal Palatial”).

Sound akin to bands like Los Campesinos! or Maccabees, typically British, Standard Fare's pop-rock is pleasant and playful, distinctly inclined to bring a smile to our faces in this rather odd early summer. The finishing touch is given by the personality of frontwoman Emma Kupa and the sharp and never frivolous lyrics; listen to the gem of the album “Older Women”, for example.

A word to the wise, is half imprisoned.