This album feels right at home amongst the synth-heavy dream pop.
The Rentals are the band of former Weezer bassist Matt Sharpe, a person many feel was a key component in the musical quality of Weezer’s first two albums. Lost in Alphaville is their first full length album since 1999’s Seven More Minutes and they haven’t lost their step. When their first album, Return of the Rentals, was released in 1995, their synth heavy sound was almost anachronistic to the grunge heavy sound at the time but on Lost in Alphaville they finally seem to have found their place.
Tracks like the opener, “It’s Time to Come Home,” feel right at home amongst the synth-heavy dream pop groups of today like M83. The highlight of the album has to be “Irrational Things” with its catchy chorus and beautiful dueling vocals between Sharpe, Jess Wolfe, and Holly Laessing. The song is the perfect representation of what the Rentals are all about sounding as if it was a lost B-Side from the Cars. Other highlights include “Thought of Sound” which features beautiful synths and also “Damaris” with its lush arrangement. If I were you and I had to pick up one Weezer related thing this year, I would choose this album.
Recommended if you like: M83, The Cars, Weezer
Recommended Tracks: “Irrational Things,” “Damaris,” “It’s Time To Come Home,” and “Thougth Of Sound”
Reviewed by Jake Waters on September 17, 2014