Telekinesis – Telekinesis! [Reissue]

It hasn’t really happened for Michael Benjamin Lerner, aka Telekinesis, in the four and a half years and two subsequent studio albums since his 2009 debut. It’s a bit of a shame, and kudos to Merge for their attempt to rectify the situation with this vinyl re-release in summer 2013. Whilst the young Seattle multi-instrumentalist’s first offering is hardly earth-shattering, it’s nonetheless a charming diversion showcasing some real potential, even if it remains (to date) unfulfilled.

A brisk, nostalgia-dappled collection with a hooks-to-minute ratio to rival Chutes Too Narrow, Telekinesis! takes as its source material the honeyed, lovelorn indie of Ben Folds Five and Weezer, as well as more recent proponents like Surfer Blood. Not long out of his teens when the LP was first unleashed, Lerner was patently at a formative juncture and far from the finished article. His songwriting at this point does tend towards the formulaic, and there are some forgettable tracks. Lerner isn’t particularly tortured, angst-ridden, provocatively twee or fond of a highfalutin’ turn of phrase. He’s just…well, he sounds like a nice guy.

So without a USP in the increasingly packed indie-rock market of the Pacific Northwest, he inevitably ran the risk of being perceived as just another sensitive, guitar-toting kid with an ear for a tune, and this album is far from definitive proof that he’d ever outpace the competition. Yet thanks to a sleek production sheen courtesy of Death Cab For Cutie guitarist /scene godfather Chris Walla and Lerner’s wide-eyed appeal, he manages to sustain interest over the course of the 11 tracks.

So whilst there might not be a huge amount of light and shade, only occasionally does Telekinesis’ winning, innocent charm veer too far toward schmaltz. Lerner’s guileless celebration in ‘Awkward Kisser’ of ‘cherry blossoms and a cherry soda/picnics in the countryside’ make him come across as an even wussier version of George McFly, and the sappy ‘Imaginary Friend’ would make Rod and Todd Flanders balk. However the best moments – the deliciously direct power-pop of ‘Coast of Carolina’ and ‘Tokyo’, the woozy alt-country ‘Great Lakes’ – more than make amends.

- Matt Tomiak