Lo-fi stoner pop janglers
the Memories have a bevy of releases to their credit, apparently only hitting pause to swap tapes, change labels, or switch cities. Since forming as a side project of Portland thrash-punks
White Fang in 2010, they've turned on the creative faucet, issuing an onslaught of tapes and LPs on prominent West Coast indie Burger Records as well as labels like Underwater Peoples, Lolipop, OSR, and their own Gnar Records. Generally self-recorded D.I.Y. affairs full of murky-sounding tracks about love, pot, and hanging out, their work comes across as both charming and infuriating depending on the listener's tolerance for winking half-assery. On one hand, it can be a real drag when artists take themselves too seriously (as, arguably, most do), but with their obvious talent for sparkling melodies and languid but astute pop song construction, it would be nice to hear
the Memories give more of a sh*t. On
Hot Afternoon, their fourth LP and third release of 2014, they actually do tighten up the slack a bit, working for the first time with an outside influence (producer
Sonny Smith of
Sonny & the Sunsets) on a set that includes tracks like "Dad's Not Home," "I'm So High," and "We Can Call It Whatever." The songs are fun and occasionally funny, with simple chord progressions nicked from the classic doo wop and '50s pop songbook, but they are also the kind of lost-weekend, slacker comedy jams that a million other bands have made under the influence of drugs and/or boredom. If anything, the (slightly) heightened production value here takes some of the wind out of their sails. It sounds a bit like someone accidentally flipped on the vibe-offending fluorescent ceiling lights. The hissy, shaggy sound of their earlier releases added a sort of easy familiarity that endeared the material even as it pleasantly underachieved. Still,
Hot Afternoon is not without its charms and it will likely please fans who are already on board with what
the Memories do. Just don't expect too much from them.