Review: Little Champions

Little Champions
““Transactions + Replications””
(Barsuk Records)

Very interesting pop songs.  It’s not the type of pop you’d find on the radio, however, with guitar work reminiscent of the earlier, more thoughtful R.E.M and keyboard melodies set to sound like a traditional piano to act as a counter point melody to the guitar lines.  Flip-flopping between male and female lead vocals and pensively restrained pretty sounds and noisy more damaging rock sounds, the second album from this Seattle based quartet is never tedious and is diverse in a well-adjusted sense.  Without stepping too far out of bounds here, I’d like to say that, although Little Champions are good, the music wouldn’’t be out of place at your local coffee shop as you sink into the chair, collected works of Pushkin on your lap, the music diddles away unobtrusively in the background not interrupting the great Russian’s translated prose, but every now and then you notice your finger is tapping out the beat on the back cover or your silently reading to the dreamy melodies.  If you were a fan of the Athens Georgia, scene, this wouldn’’t be too far out of place amidst those bands albeit more modern sounding.