Bedroom Walls

When a band’s music is judged as belonging to a particular genre, it can be counter-productive. While it might help prospective fans find them, there’s a good chance it will also prevent those with a pathological hatred of that genre from discovering a mislabelled gem. Bedroom Walls’ solution to this potential problem is to create their own genre: "romanticore.” Of course, this is just as confusing because when it comes down to it, the Los Angeles band play mellow, sad indie pop. And they do it very well. But just like their need to make up words to describe their music, they also feel the need to try and expand their horizons in ways that are equally perplexing. All Good Dreamers Pass This Way is at its best when the jangly songs know their limitations. The best songs have simple arrangements and fragile vocals, but there are at least a couple of songs that overstay their welcome and the album suffers as a result. Or maybe that’s just one of the things romanticore bands do — fill the first half of their CDs with pretty, clever pop songs and then stop things dead in the second half with over-extended tunes and interludes that go nowhere. If that’s the case, maybe they should come up with a less frustrating genre for their next album.