Yuppie Flu
Toast Masters

The Yuppie Flu bring with them a strange and subtle irony that, just like the sly and seemingly indifferent look of each of them, organizes and disorganizes their music at the same time.
And this - like every artistic contradiction - is something we can't help but enjoy, as we move within the paradox.

Metaphor aside, the group from Ancona has so far produced albums that have a certain internal order given by clear and precise references (sometimes, according to their critics, even too much: Pavement - and all the oblique note disarrayers - in the first "At The Zoo", Mercury Rev - and all the mellifluous note dreamers - in the second "Days Before The Day").
But there's always a destabilizing element: it's what ultimately defines their personal style, whether it's in the form of electronic bleeps, Matteo Agostinelli's bothersome (splendid) voice, or the ability to craft moody sketches. The true gem of their discography, "The Boat EP" (2000), was full of these slippery imbalances.

It's 2005 (with a line-up change: one less keyboardist and a new drummer), and with "Toast Masters" the subtle irony of the Yuppie Flu is reversed.
What now disrupts balance is actually the lack of a precise reference other than their own mood: carefree and cool.
Bringing order, the rather 'straight' proposal of much more guitar-centric and 'easy' music than usual.
Many carefree tracks to listen to in loop (Our Nature, A Good Guide, Together, Pain Is Over, Vultures And Fortune), which leave the aftertaste of the recent British trend of straight-and-easy rock (certainly flavored by the clear American imprint of the Homesleep-branded quartet); few, however (Stray On Free, Make A Stand), are the concessions to the skewed and deviant world of quality dream pop they are capable of.

There is a paradox, but it's negative: with this album, the Yuppie Flu are more decidedly themselves, but perhaps they lose part of their nuanced appeal.
"Toast Masters" doesn't disrupt their discography nor my CD collection; however, it will certainly be listened to quite a bit in these months of clear blue and cloudless skies.