GANGING UP ON THE SUN - GUSTER
On its fifth studio release, Boston dorm darling Guster brings the noise. The formerly acoustic band cranks up the guitars while sticking to catchy melodies that feel as safe as a cuddly college sweatshirt. After starting with a softly entrancing track, “Ganging Up on the Sun” quickly becomes Guster’s loudest and most ambitious effort to date. Standouts like the Fleetwood Mac-rubbed “Satellite” or “Ruby Falls,” a sprawling, Pink Floyd-ish ballad, are unabashed pop anthems dressed in classic-rock threads. And if there are bursts of political dissent (”Manifest Destiny”), cheerful nostalgia often wins. On “One Man Wrecking Machine,” singer Ryan Miller travels back to high school to finally make out with the homecoming queen (”I want to relive my adolescent dreams/ Inspired by true events and movies screens”). Billboard
