Slow Down Tallahassee - The Beautiful Light

Every bit the gem that the cd single suggested a full length would be, The Beautiful Light starts at a furious pace, its first three numbers, "The Beautiful Light", "Down The Alleyway" and a slightly retooled "Candy" (the other two songs from the single, "So Much For Love" and "UR Grace UR", also reappear in rerecorded form later on the album), all breakneck, utterly taut, two-and-a-half to three minute power-pop epics; they slow it down for fourth track "Never Be Lonely Again", which brings the girl group elements of their sound to the fore, and at about that point on first listen, I was thinking greatness. The rest of the album doesn't really come near to following through on the promise of that initial rush (as far as albums of this kind go, I think it's shaded by We Are The Pipettes, but the high points are equally high, which is saying something; by comparison to the other, by the way, Slow Down Tallahassee are less glossy, and have a more garage-y sound), but there are plenty of ideas scattered through the balance, and there's no shortage of melodies and hooks to love, either.