Cadet

Item: The Observatory
Author: Bert Gangl

The Observatory

(2002)

Reviewed by Bert Gangl

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Label BEC RecordingsThe Phantom Tollbooth2002

acoustic rock alternative rock pop rock

The 2001 self-titled debut from Eugene, Oregon's Cadet seemed almost like the work of two groups. On the one hand, songs such as "Precious One" and "Land of the Living" highlighted an outfit well-versed in the subtle intricacies of the achingly sweet, three-and-a-half-minute classic pop odes of artists like the Beach Boys and the Raspberries. Tracks like "Talent Show" and the equally unimaginative "God-Man (Jesus Is My Superhero)," on the other hand, pointed to a group appropriating only the most obvious sonic trappings of the current-day punk revival movement while missing out entirely on the original genre's boisterous vivacity and infectiously raw-spirited sense of humor.

If the plodding, faux '50s vibe of "Stuck in a Song" and Lenny Kravitz redux of "Cry to You" seem like holdovers from the weaker portions of the first album, the remainder of the new record, The Observatory, finds the Northwestern lads seizing the intermittently glimmering pop spirit that inhabited the first record and polishing it to an eye-striking lustre. The intricate, arpeggio-driven verses and wall of sound choruses of "Change My Name" invoke R.E.M. and Delirious at their most engaging. Likewise, the rousing alt-rock rhythm and shimmering, Rembrandts-styled vocals of cuts like "Nobody" and "Blame" work as a veritable template for the peaceful coexistence of buoyant pop and driving hard rock on the same disc. And the stirring juxtaposition of soaring melody and melancholy-tinged wording renders the stand-out cut "Today" as achingly poignant as it is beautiful.

While the uplifting sense of innocence and wonder of the debut is, happily, once again present and accounted for, the new record features a lyrical depth and scope that far outstrips that of the debut. The inherently joyous "Come Alive" (Rivers sing and shadows shine/ Glory falls/ I've come alive) employs Revelation-inspired imagery to masterfully mine the romantic thread that lies at the heart of the God-to-man relationship. The more darkly-textured "Wishing Well," by way of contrast, uses a near-stream-of-consciousness approach for its insightful look at the more wistful side of the human experience. And tracks like "Change My Name" (I left myself and you remain) and the best-of-album "High Tide" (You're a midnight/ Balancing today and tomorrow) feature a poetically-inclined language that manages to be, at once, disarmingly direct and, yet, deeply profound.

Although true pop aficionados will no doubt fumble for adequate superlatives to describe the new release, suffice it to say that the new album carries a weight, coherence and attention to detail that were, quite simply, lacking from far too much of the debut - not to mention a rightful reverence for hook and melody that is only just recently making its way back into the collective rock consciousness. While the term artistic growth has been bandied about indiscriminately enough over the years to have lost much of its original import, it nonetheless seems the only appropriate label to attach to the giant leap in songwriting taken by the Cadet collective between their debut effort and the new album, which itself stands, with only minor exceptions, as a most glorious example of near-letter-perfect pop music.

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