Not that this was a conspiracy or anything, but the more I listen to Guster's Keep It Together the more my ears pick up on bits of pop music's past.

First there's the Cure in the intro and chorus riffs from "Careful". Then some Lovin' Spoonful ("Daydream") in "Ramona", with some NRBQ-style vocals...sorta. "Red Oyster Cult" has terrific Beatles/Cheap Trick "bent" vocals.

Oh ya, and then there's the radio hit "Amsterdam", which for some reason I would love to hear covered by R.E.M.

I don't mean to imply that Guster is somehow lacking in creativity or is merely derivative. Not at all. Some reviewers have picked the Hollies (I can sorta hear that) but I lean more to the Beach Boys. The arrangements are just so full of nice elements: a little glockenspiel here, melotron there, maybe even some banjo...all on top of their "usual" bass, guitar and percussion.

Keep It Together is a consistently interesting and well-constructed (I wanted to say "crafted" here but all of those danged "hand-crafted" beer ads have ruined that word for me) record. What with all of the sweatin' hot weather that's finally appeared in the eastern US, it just might be the perfect CD for popping in the player on the way to the beach (read: "bookstore in coastal town"...sorry, my 'inner nerd' must be obeyed) this weekend.

(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)