JIM NOIR
Jim Noir
(My Dad Recordings/Barsuk)
By Todd Lavoie
As the sun begins shining a bit brighter and the sandals slip back out of closet-hibernation, it’s time once again to think about how to best soundtrack the upcoming summer days of sandy beaches and backyard barbecues. Sure, the Beach Boys are always a good start, but maybe you’re hankering for something newer?
Here’s where Manchester, England’s laptop electro-pop sing-song specialist Jim Noir comes in; his new self-titled sophomore effort could very well be the musical equivalent of a candy-striped beach ball bouncing and bobbing from one end of the swimming pool to the other. Frankly, it’s tough to imagine this disc being recorded in a home studio in the North of England – the whole thing feels like it was written and laid to tape amid sand castles and surfers.
Noir – or, Alan Roberts to his Mum and Dad – is a whiz at sunshine-pop, to be sure, but rather than merely settling for warm harmonies and Brian Wilson-recalling arrangements, he also insists on dressing them all up in swathes of childlike surrealism. Comprising mainly circular song patterns in which lush multi-tracked harmonies glide between swirls and spirals of synth and smiley-faced psychedelic guitar, Jim Noir pays tribute to both Pet Sounds and the tripped-out sounds of British ’60s pop.