Posies

Since the Posies decided to call it a day two years ago, they have been more prolific than ever. There have been greatest hits collections, live albums and even a box set of unreleased material, and now a new EP. They are already getting ready to spend most of this year touring and I suppose there will be a real album by the end of 2001. The five songs that make up Nice Cheekbones and a Ph.D are mainly acoustic and not particularly Posies-like at all; they sound more like demos than the finished product. Even though all the necessary parts are present - jangly guitars, decent lyrics, pretty harmonies - it doesn't quite gel. The only song that really works in such a stripped down manner is the near-perfect cover of the Byrds' "Lady Friend," which shows that they could also double as Roger McGuinn's backing band. Part of me is very happy about the Posies recording again. But if they were going to come back, they should have managed to have come up with something a little more substantial.