Big Troubles – Romantic Comedy

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have begun to look very, very wise. Not in the sense that they’ve redefined pop in khakis and cardigans – after all, their influences are worn right on their label – but they called dibs on rosy, lightly-scuffed library-pop before Black Tambourine became hip again. It has made a lot of 21st century twee-poppers to look like well-dressed comparisons, just because their record came out in the back-half of ‘09.

“Kind of like the Pains” has become a remarkably ubiquitous term in music writer’s lexicon, which is pretty impressive for a group originally defined as a cheerful group of revivalists with a cute keyboardist. In an industry built on backlash and expectation, the Pains had it made – providing enough dissenting opinion to fuel a published argument right here on TLOBF. It’s not necessarily that the other bands in the twee-volution aren’t as good, we’re just too used to talking about the band that was doing it first.

So, here’s Big Troubles, they’re kind of like the Pains, and from Brooklyn no less. Their second record Romantic Comedy has earned its recognition because, well, Stereogum seems to like them and it’s a helluva lot more produced than your average fairy-dusted twee record. The quartet had the means to compose 10 refreshingly distinct tunes that unite such potentially expensive elements as bells, strings, and a studio-quality sheen rendering reductive modifiers like “bedroom,” “garage,” or “basement” mute. You know, Big Troubles have actually made an album, which is something that seems to be entirely optional for most outfits working the Slumberland beat (Brilliant Colors anyone?) It should hold off the Pains hounds, at least for the moment.

It almost feels strange congratulating a band for successfully linking together a few centralized ideas into an LP, but that’s probably the best thing about Romantic Comedy. Far too many records flexing this aesthetic “dream,” “haze,” or “fuzz” themselves into a bottomless smudge, Big Troubles manage to stay conscious the entire time they’re trying to grab your attention. That means we get quiet, anxious ballads like ‘You’ll Be Laughing’ slotted right behind the smarmy, excessive sing-along ‘Sad Girls’. Or the rambling, piano-driven ‘Softer Than Science’ serving as a jangling precursor to the tightly-wound power-pop of ‘Time Bomb’. They all form a discernable arc, not an elongated jam with track-breaks added like mile-markers. It makes for a solid first impression, considering how few people listened to their scrappier, self-recorded debut.

I’m not sure how much it helps to have Mitch Easter producing, obviously having someone partially responsible for Murmur behind the boards is at least an aesthetic benefit. He clocks a workman’s effort of making everything sound pretty; guitars lightly radiating an echoed warmth, drums solid but restrained, vocals bathed in sepia but still crystal clear. Alex Craig and Ian Drennan’s soft voices can almost be gender-deceiving until you realize they’re constantly singing about girls. The basic appeal of Romantic Comedy is just how nice it sounds – moving in quick-doses of pristine, low-barrier pop.

The best track lies at the end; ‘Never Mine’ is a near-immaculate slab of the elements that make twee great; knee-buckled verses, an airy chorus, a floating bass and an absolutely indelible honey-dipped guitar hook – it’s hard not to crack a smile when the strings come in at the final fourth. The problem is that not enough of Romantic Comedy hits the same genuine, first-time glory often. The remainder stays pretty in its digestibility, but doesn’t draw the listener back for long. Big Troubles are more deserving of your generosity than your interest – but given their talents and the fact that they’re streaming Romantic Comedy on Soundcloud for free – that generosity is a perfectly reasonable investment.