Tapes ‘n Tapes: The Loon

I always forget about these guys. Lost in the wash of mid-aughts indie music and Surfer Rosa-era Pixies idol worship, these guys put together a decent debut album here. But in their cleverness in evoking the past and pushing their influences to the front of the music, they both remind you of something and nothing at the same time and in doing so become almost generic. I mean if you sound like too many people, you sound like nobody. Thus my struggle whenever I run across their name to recall their “sound.” I mean there are worse offenders out there when it comes to mimicry, but while their musical references happen to be bands I enjoy, and the album is a decent listen, the music is kind of gone from your head the moment the CD stops spinning (or your iPod moves on).