Soccer Team

The duo of Ryan Nelson (Most Secret Method) and Melissa Quinley make up Soccer Team, a sonically-adventurous recording project that explores the possibilities of pastiche and the lyric-driven song. Nelson is the chief architect of the sounds here, performing all manner of instruments and rendering narratives (there is nary a verse-chorus structure to cling to here) with a dreamy, far-away pop voice. "So, You Like it Vague, Huh?” plays at the atmospheric reverberations of Belle & Sebastian and "Solid Ring Fighters” and "Traffic Patterns” each possess the hazy monotone of Elevator to Hell. Quinley is captivating on "We Closed a Record Store” and bold on the gritty "Head Outside.” The title track and "Look at You!” owe more than their instrumental form to Tortoise, while "Lobster Season” captures the feel of that other man/woman Dischord duo, the Evens. Soccer Team possess a cryptic pop sound that becomes more accessible with each listen.