The Darcys

Centerfold

BY Corey HendersonPublished Nov 3, 2016

7
Pop music is in the midst of a huge wave of nostalgia for the 1980s. Phil Collins is performing on the Tonight Show and Bruno Mars is burning up the charts with keytars and vocoders, while synths and drum machines are all over modern pop. A surprising entrance into this newest trend is the Darcys, whose new album Centerfold is full of likeable beats, some really funky bass lines and a few moments that are a little too heavy on the '80s nostalgia kick.
 
This kind of pop succeeds when the artist is really having fun (see: Bruno Mars), and really revels in the sounds of the time. As such, "Arizona Hwy," a song that is literally about driving down the Arizona Highway, is so funny and shiny that it's probably the best song on the record. It's goofy, sure, with its high, breathy vocals paired with adorable synth riffs, but it's really, really catchy. Elsewhere though, the slow, plodding "San Diego, 1988" is just a bit too on the nose with the '80s nostalgia, and is hampered by dragging synth.
 
Fortunately, Centerfold has more of those fun, carefree moments and less of the overdone '80s shtick, which we'll all be done with soon (unless you're Bruno Mars).
(Arts & Crafts)

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