Love Is the Call in Bloomington, MN

Cast
were traditionalists as young men so it's not entirely a surprise that they haven't changed course nearly three decades into their career. Not that
have been resistant to change in the 30 years separating their 1995 debut
All Change
and
Love Is the Call
, the seventh studio album that leader
John Power
suggested could be their last during the record's promotion. There have been changes in lineup -- here,
Power
moves to bass, leaving
Liam "Skin" Tyson
as the lone guitarist alongside drummer
Keith O'Neill
-- and there's an occasional feint toward contemporary trends, but what remains is a belief in propulsive guitars and ringing melodies. With
Youth
giving the album a sharp veneer -- glossy but not slick; classicist but not retro --
sound crisp, which is, perhaps, aided by the fact that they're functioning as a power trio: they dispense with anything extraneous, preferring to keep the engine humming. The familiarity is a feature, not a bug. The moments that recall Brit-pop (and there are many, most jammed onto the first side) help make the departures resonate, whether it's the brisk power pop of "Look Around" or psychedelic haze of "Tomorrow Call My Name." The sturdiness of the craft and its faithfulness to
's body of work means
could indeed function as a handsome farewell, but it also suggests the band might have more plenty of road left ahead of them. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine