The Music Spectrum Notebook Series digs into my handwritten notes and reviews on older releases still getting my attention.
The gargoyle-devil creatures on the cover don’t set you up for Proud Simon’s Night of Criminals (2008). Despite the ominous sounding title and cover picture, the album features Proud Simon’s less dark American Music Club sound. It’s the pop side of John Wesley Harding (on his full production albums), the sweep melancholy of Crowded House, and the Beatlesque moments of Switchfoot. Even the dark hints on the instrumental “Everyone on the Train Could Use a Little Change”—swirling as they do like XTC—are pushed along by a pop bounce. Going past the cover art, then, you’ll find that the bubblegum pop antecedents for this pop rock make it an album you can be proud to enjoy.
