Hey Geronimo‘s Crashing Into the Sun may be one of the great mis-timed album releases. When it’s 10 degrees, you don’t long for an album full of summer jams and Beach Boys harmonies. Crashing Into the Sun denotes fun and heat, from the glorious beach-body album cover to the Sgt Pepper’s psychedelia. While it may stand in stark contrast to the reality of the weather, this album is so hot and makes you feel so warm inside that you won’t mind the fact that it’s freezing outside.
Hey Geronimo are very 60’s in their makeup – their four songwriters and multitude of singers reflect the somewhat democratic processes of The Beatles and The Byrds, while their style encompasses everything from baroque pop to psychedelia to surf rock.
Another way Hey Geronimo draw from the 60’s is in their focus on melody and hooks. Right from “Lazer Gun Show”, the second track, we are taken on an exhilirating tour de force of hooks. Every tune has moments of melodic perfection worthy of The Beach Boys. The standout for me is “The Girl Who Likes Me”, a sparkling tune with multilayered harmonies that sounds like Revolver-era Beatles, but more scuzzy. Other highlights include the faux-naive “Bake a Cake”, and the sombre acoustic closer, “Garble Arch”.
The most impressive thing about this creation of this album, where so many songwriters are jostling for credit, (apart from the fact that the band didn’t break up and none of them murdered each other) is that there is a remarkable consistency of style and vision. This is made all the more impressive by the fact that Crashing Into the Sun is a debut effort – most bands with a sole creative dictator can’t muster up this good an LP on first effort. The only other totally democratic band I can think of that were this good this early in their careers is Hunters and Collectors.
This is not an album that is trying to be deep. You won’t be playing any of these songs at your nana’s funeral, or the opening of the Olympic ceremony. But good bands play to their strengths, something Hey Geronimo have done here in spades. It’s the perfect album for your summer barbeque, meaning Crashing Into the Sun has been released a good four months before it can reach its full potential but as a preview to beachside frolics yet to come, it is perfect. We may be in the middle of one of our coldest winters, but Hey Geronimo have released one hot record.
Review Score: 8.9 out of 10. 
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Crashing into the Sun is out now.
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