Albert Hammond Jr., he of Strokes fame, produced
the Postelles' debut and that provides a fitting but not entirely accurate entryway to the group's second album,
...And It Shook Me. Unlike
the Strokes, there is nary a hint of dysfunction within
the Postelles, who sound like they enjoy each other's company and are happy to make a fair amount of noise together, pushing their rhythms but never at the expense of their hooks. And there are hooks aplenty on
...And It Shook Me, a bright, infectious collection of propulsive pop, but what impresses isn't the hooks themselves but how
the Postelles craft the riffs and melodies into songs, how they retain a brightness to their punch without ever seeming saccharine, how they seem to celebrate exuberance, not detachment. Of course, it helps that they can write precise, cheerful melodies, but
the Postelles have a slight hint of rootsiness that contradicts the irrepressibly modern inclinations of
the Strokes, grounding the group in the classicist thrust of any pop band that followed in the footsteps of
the Beatles. Which isn't to say
the Postelles revive
Beatlemania: instead the group cherishes big, bold hooks, coming from either the songs' basic melodies or the group's consolidated propulsion. The band is cheerful and sprightly, conscious of construction and nimble enough to avoid traps that have sunk hook-loving pop groups of the past. It's classic pop music for people who have never bothered with classic pop, which is reason enough to check this out. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine