Fans of the late great
Galaxie 500 would hope that a new
Luna release proves as captivating as
Dean Wareham's first band. In the case of
The Days of Our Nights, however, old grounds have not been revisited. Instrumentally the album is wonderful -- filled with nicely toasted guitars, lovely melody lines, crispy drums, and a myriad of ear-candy touches in the production. One can take several tracks and proclaim them to be diamantes of pop craft, yet the lack of emotional nuance in the vocals becomes apparent as the disc wears on. The vocals certainly weren't phoned in, because they are nicely performed and recorded, but feeling seems absent.
Wareham is a much better singer than he was ten years ago upon the release of
Galaxie 500's
On Fire, but some might miss the raw and nasal reediness of yore.