Pop and Glam, Psych Pop

“Better Strange,” which the band describes as “a sweat-drenched handshake on a warehouse dancefloor.” “You’re so much better strange / You’re so much better when you make mistakes with me.” Serendipity, a word not uttered much, but certainly seen often enough on filtered instagram photos with cliche pictures of a couple accidentally meeting. Books on the ground after a collision, two hands touching one another over the same group of popcorn kernels – this is not true serendipity.

On the other hand, there is Joaquin Pastor, a young 20-something guy on an evening stroll when he hears music coming from an apartment along the way. He stops to Shazam the song in hopes he could find the artist, but it turns out it’s not been released yet. Inside the apartment, a disgruntled producer, Gus Seyffert, comes out and asks what Pastor is doing sitting on his front porch. And a promising, serendipitous musical collaboration is born.

At the time, Pastor was already working on a project before meeting Seyffert, which turned out to be James Supercave. The group that formed under the name recorded EP, The Afternoon, to critical acclaim, but waited nearly three years before releasing a full-length. Without a doubt, three years is a pretty long time to wait to release a full-length after an EP, especially if it’s a new band; however, the waiting slowly evolved into anticipation and fans are to be rewarded lavishly with the latest release, Better Strange.

In any article about the group, it’s easy to see that most people would consider Pastor a perfectionist. It’s often difficult for any listener to tell if that’s true or not, but there are certainly parts of Better Strange that illustrate an articulate, precise mind. “Whatever You Want,” the second song on the album portrays a seemingly constant rhythm section, but in the latter half of the song the feeling changes in the matter of a second.

That’s pretty common with most songs by James Supercave. One fairly constant theme is a steady rhythm section, particularly the drums. The steadiness allows for Pastor to explore different melodic avenues. Take “Body Monsters” for instance, a typical indie, middle of track, but Andres Villalobos turns the piece on its head with his glam rock leads. The tones are relatively clear, articulate even as he chimes in the background during Pastor’s vocals.

The keys throughout the album almost feel surreally ethereal. The build-up in the verse and pre-chorus during “The Right Thing” illuminate the stark differences between these musicians. It’s clear they all come from sonically diverse backgrounds, but they coalesce into a thrilling amalgam of sounds.

Even though Pastor’s vocal performance has finesse in quality and execution, it falls flat aesthetically as it feels like every indie rock group’s lead singer. The lyrics are often dark, which is intentional. The group has stated they write about the world, one that they see as a cold, often difficult place to maneuver through the day to day. To escape that mindset, the title track and first track of the album, “Better Strange,” invites the listener to forget about feelings of neglect, worthlessness, disillusionment, “You’re so much better strange / You’re so much better when you make mistakes with me.” Odd lyrics coming from someone many consider a perfectionist, but on the other hand, perhaps that’s the larger message of Better Strange – enjoy yourself.