As a member of
Terry Malts,
Magic Bullets, and
Smokescreens,
Corey Cunningham had a hand in making some really good indie pop and punk albums. It would stand to reason that when he started his own band it would be good too. The first
Business of Dreams album, which he released in 2017, proved that this line of reasoning was very sound, and 2019's
Ripe for Anarchy only serves to reinforce it.
Cunningham's idea is to take classic indie pop song structures and give them a deluxe, late-'80s production flair and it works better than one might expect. It's not far off from what bands like
the Lightning Seeds or
Aztec Camera were doing at the time, but they weren't usually singing about total despair or left-wing politics like
Cunningham does here. He really does nail the sound, though; tracks like "Chasing That Feeling" and "I Never Could Tell You" have all kinds of shimmer and shine, "Naive Scenes" has wonderfully layered acoustic guitars and synths, "My Old Town" has the polished feel of classic
Go-Betweens (especially since
Cunningham quotes their "Streets of Our Town" near the end), and the whole album uses a perfectly cheesy drum machine that sounds exactly right. The listener's enjoyment of the album might depend on their tolerance for ultra-clean-sounding digital production and late-'80s techniques, but even if those sound like anathema, the songs are strong enough to vault past any sonic objections.
Cunningham writes very strong, sweeping melodies that are nostalgic and full of heartache, he sings in a clear, sweet voice that is bereft of artifice, and every song makes an impact, either because of the emotional power or the sharp hooks. He can do tender ballads ("Don't Let Our Time Expire"), peppy songs that are very
Field Mice-inspired ("Keep the Blues Away"), and even does a lovely sophisti-pop cover of
Sparklehorse's "The Hatchet Song" to boot. The debut
Business of Dreams album showed a lot of promise,
Ripe for Anarchy makes good on it and then some. It's the kind of record that, had it come out during the era it so clearly imitates, everyone would be talking about what a classic touchstone of indie pop it is. Look for that conversation to take place sometime around 2049 or so.