The great thing about I Will Be is that there isn’t anything wrong with it. Basically, it’s full of Shangri-Las-style harmonies sung at the Ramones’ speed, with band leader Dee Dee singing lyrics almost always including the word “baby.” Perfect. This debut album from the L.A. librarian is another home-recording-project-gone-big, like Little Girls’ Concepts or Wavves’ Wavvves, but whereas those two albums sometimes got too caught up in their own self-importance or post-punk influences (Joy Division and Wipers respectively), I Will Be is just ten tracks of straight-ahead pop, and one ballad cover of Sonny Bono to finish off the disc. The not-so-great thing about I Will Be is that if there are any songs to be called ‘stand-out tracks,’ they only stand out incrementally from the others. “Jail La La” and “Blank Girl” are two of the catchiest in the bunch, but they’ve got the same basic drumbeat and the same chords as every other song. But if you like music like ’70s punk bands and ’60s girl groups is that really going to deter you anyways? (Sub Pop Records, www.subpop.com) Taylor Burgess
Winnipeg music & culture since 1989