My Amazon Reviews: Guster "Easy Wonderful"

Easy, but maybe a little too easy
3 Out Of 5 Stars

This is interesting in as much as Guster has recorded what amounts to a straight up pop album. It's light and breezy, non-confrontational, loaded with catchy tunes and pristine production, and super harmonies. It's also, unfortunately, utterly unmemorable.

"Easy Wonderful" is conventional pop without any songs that dig into your brain and stay there. I've been living with the CD for a couple of weeks, and other than the "Do You Love Me" and the banjo infused "Hercules," I can't really remember what the songs are all about. If you're setting out to right breezy, infectious pop, there has to be a sticking point somewhere, and "Easy Wonderful" has no quills.

That's not to say Guster has lost their skills. There's a scathingly funny indictment of blind faith on "Stay With Me Jesus," and the previous mentioned "Hercules" has the sneak attack of the banjo break. The closer, "Do What You Want," takes a skip away from the album's overall sound for some synths and electronics, which at least ends "Easy Wonderful" on a non-homogeneous note. However, Guster took the easy road here, and have delivered an album that is merely average.