When
Rave-Ups frontman
Jimmer Podrasky recorded the song "Positively Lost Me" for their debut album, 1985's
Town + Country, which would become their best-known tune, he was a guy in his mid-twenties who had the blissful swagger and playful arrogance that comes with youth. The country accents of the song gave his performance a bit of gravitas, but he and his bandmates were young guys playing at seeming older and wiser, which is to be expected from a talented guy feeling his oats on the good side of 30. Flash forward to 2022, and
the Rave-Ups have returned with
Tomorrow, their first album since 1990's
Chance, and the big difference is they no longer have to pretend they're full-grown men. The band's big, upbeat melodies, their Americana accents, and the punch of their instrumental attack has changed very little from their late '80s-early '90s heyday (though there are a few more acoustic-oriented tracks this time out). And if
Podrasky's voice has a bit more texture in 2022, it works for him, and coupled with the more matured but still cocky effect of numbers like "So, You Wanna Know the Truth," "Brigitte Bardot," and "How Old Am I," he honestly sounds better than in his more callow days.
Tomorrow is that rare comeback album that not only doesn't sound like a rehash of past glories, it's arguably the best album of their career, losing practically none of their strengths of decades past and gaining some smarter songwriting, sharper instrumental chops, and the wisdom than can come from folks who have been knocked down a few times but have been able to dust themselves off and start again. Guitarist Terry Wilson, bassist Tommy Blatnik, and drummer Tim Jimenez connect with greater strength than in the past, and they're more soulful to boot, and the production by Wilson and Jimenez is flattering in its tight focus and uncluttered clarity -- a big improvement over the very '80s production of their albums for Epic.
Tomorrow sounds like the great sophomore album
the Rave-Ups could (and should) have made after the breakthrough of
Town + Country, and if it took a long time for them to get to where they are, the finished product makes the journey feel worthwhile. ~ Mark Deming