2nd Grade is made up of a bunch of like-minded pop kids who played in bands like
Remember Sports,
Free Cake for Every Creature, and
Friendship. Peter Gill was in a couple of those groups, playing a supportive role; here he takes the lead on a batch of short and snappy pop songs that draw from the deep melodic wells of indie and power pop with a healthy dose of mid-fi sweetness and light. Think
Guided by Voices playing the songs of
Teenage Fanclub or maybe vice versa.
Hit to Hit is a great title for the album since it lives up to the title quite nicely. Some of the tunes are sprightly and sun-kissed, sounding like they were stolen from
the Rubinoos' playbook ("Velodrome" and "Sucking the Thumb"), some are guitar-heavy melancholy janglers that could have come from the pen of a young
Norman Blake ("Not in the Band" and "Maybe I"), some have the openhearted appeal of early Kindercore-style emo ("My Bike"), and a few take the acoustic route and are almost heartbreakingly fragile and pristine ("Something I'll Have to Remember," "Flavor of the Week"). There are a lot of songs on the record -- mostly short and over before you know it -- the ratio of hits to misses is a near perfect score. To help make his songs come alive, Gill chose a cast of characters that give him exactly the kind of sympathetic and inspiring support he did. Guitarists
Catherine Dwyer and Jon Samuels make noise when needed or lay back and strum prettily, while the rhythm section of bassist
Jack Washburn and drummer Will Kennedy provides exactly the right amount of power and swing. Their skills help make each song a special occasion so that nothing gets lost in the rush and the sheer amount of brilliant pop moments don't start to become overwhelming. Each track should be examined like a fine gem, peered at from every angle, and appreciated for the small beam of sunshine or trickling teardrop that it is.
Hit to Hit isn't a big album and it doesn't aim to make a statement; it's a perfectly cut slice of life rendered in miniature fragments of simple beauty and unadorned emotion.
2nd Grade make the small moments count, and Gill and his friends have made a record that fans of indie pop, power pop, and good old-fashioned small "p" pop should rally around and share with their friends and family.