Thirty years after
Jon Auer and
Ken Stringfellow started working together,
the Posies have evolved from a great pop band into a terrific part-time job.
Auer and
Stringfellow each have enough going on that the band has ceased to be a full-time concern. But when they do get together and make new music, they do so with impressive commitment and enthusiasm.
Solid States is the first
Posies album in six years, and their first since the death of longtime drummer Darius Minwalla. Working with a new percussionist (Frankie Siragusa) and a different approach, the album sounds significantly different than much of their previous work. The big guitars that dominated
the Posies' classic period albums are far less conspicuous here, and keyboards and electronics play a much bigger role in the arrangements. The Baroque pop accents of Failure and
Dear 23 are pretty much gone, as are the guitar heroics of
Frosting on the Beater and
Amazing Disgrace. Despite all that,
Solid States still sounds like
the Posies. This is different version of the band, to be sure, but
Auer and
Stringfellow's superb harmonies and clever songcraft are a potent reminder of who's at the controls here. The melodies are more streamlined than in days past, but the hooks are still pure pop perfection, and the arrangements serve the tunes well. If
the Posies are working more inside the box in 2016, they're hardly alone, and they haven't let their new working methods rob them of their intelligence or their tunefulness. And the political consciousness that made itself known on 2005's
Every Kind of Light is even more prominent on
Solid States. Lyrically, this is among the sharpest and wittiest collections of songs this band has ever released. Add in the similarly fine music, and
Solid States demonstrates
the Posies have plenty of fresh ideas and great records left in them after three decades. ~ Mark Deming