Karl Wallinger
defined the ornate,
Beatle
sque
World Party
sound on their debut
Private Revolution
, and he never strayed from that blueprint over the next decade, even if he augmented it with other '60s and '70s pop flourishes.
Egyptology
finds
Wallinger
at his most conservative, sticking to the basic late-'60s pop and psychedelia that distinguished
and
Goodbye Jumbo
. As always, his production is tasteful and subtle, revealing new layers of sonic detail on each listen, and his songcraft is sturdy and tuneful, if not remarkable. Few of the songs jump out upon the first few listens, yet there are no weak moments on the record, which makes
, of all things, a workmanlike release. It's not flashy or extravagant, and it may not have the inspiration of
, but it does deliver a collection of fine pop tunes without pretension, and that alone makes it a better album than the overly ambitious
Bang!
. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine