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THE FUTURE IS ALWAYS PERFECT
(Future Farmer)
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Brit-born Martyn Leaper’s revolving-door outfit were always among the most talented, and least recognized, of the bands that comprised the Elephant 6 pop collective led by the Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Apples in Stereo. In fact, the Apples’ Robert Schneider co-founded the Minders with Leaper after meeting the latter at an Apples’ show and later manned the boards for the band’s terrific psych-pop debut, Hooray For Tuesday (spinART, 1998). A few tours, lineup changes, and a pair of releases later find singer/guitarist Leaper, newish drummer Joel Burrows, and drummer-turned-keyboardist Rebecca Cole remaining true to their light-on-the-outside, dark-on-the-inside muse on this mini-LP (eight tracks clocking in at 26-plus minutes). The Minders’ sophomore disc, Golden Street (spinART, 2001), was a mordant, miniaturist portrait of suburban malaise; a scathing song-cycle wrapped in cheery melodies and glittering hooks. From the looks (and sounds) of it, Leaper’s worldview has lightened only slightly. There’s a sense of sarcasm and disappointment implicit in the new album’s title, and tracks such as the XTC-ish "Here Goes Nothing" (featuring Quasi’s Neil Gust on lead guitar) find our hero still a bit testy, disheartened, and confused about what’s expected of him. Unfortunately, the new wave-y synths that infiltrate a couple of tracks — on the doodling "Hahaha" and the noodling "28X" — are particularly egregious examples of misplaced ’80s nostalgia gone horribly awry. But the tenderly sung, elegant closing track, "All The Way Around," is possibly one of the best things the Minders have ever done and it makes for an exquisite, graceful exit.
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