The second album in six years by this collective, featuring a revolving cast of musicians, boasts members from Belly, Guided By Voices, Nada Surf and Letters to Cleo, among many others. The core of the group, though, still includes Dave Derby (Dambuilders/Lloyd Cole), Rainy Orteca, Sean Eden and Kevin March.
This latest is a solid collection of straight-ahead pop music (no prefix to couch the genre) you need not feel guilty about digging. There are a couple of weak spots here and there, but songs like the catchy “Winter Light,” featuring backing vocals from Sparklehorse’s Kendall Meade and the horn-heavy “The Night is Your Only Friend,” with Letters to Cleo’s Kay Hanley, more than make up for it.
Gramercy Arms is making it ok to dig pop music again, one record at a time.
Gramercy Arms – The Seasons of Love/10 tracks/Reveal Records/2014
Gramercy Arms – The Seasons of Love (CD)