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A Strong Sophomore Effort

Moving in Reverse (Independent)

Yardsale

By Cricket Bidwell

When I first saw this band a couple of years ago, I thought all they needed was a little time to work together, to find their sound; this sophomore album, Moving In Reverse, proves I was right.

The boys of Yardsale have come a long way, with a couple of really great tunes on this new record. "Break Me Down" is a rocking number in the vein of all great relationship survival songs. The narrator knows his tendencies to fall apart, but isn't going to let it happen this time around ("It's not the first time I've been dropped/Sometimes I don't know when to stop.") With its Alice-in-Wonderland imagery, this is one that needs to be heard.

Yardsale's many influences can be readily heard on this disc - 1960s pop bands come through loud and clear on several tunes, especially "Ones & Zeros" which sounds like it could have come straight off a Monkees album with its vocal distortion. Some cowpunk peeks through on "Everybody (Ends Up Alone)," and the steel guitar on "Gray Out" provides a completely different sound that works well without sounding overtly alt-country.

The title track takes off with some interesting bongo beats, jumps into a pop mish-mash of elements from the '60s, '80s and '90s and turns out wonderfully. Kirk Keifer's and David Toy's vocals work well on this one to bring it back from being too far out in left field and it's easily my favorite song on this album.

"Keep in Touch" falls back into a calmer acoustic sound that ends the record on an introspective note. Will he ask the girl to keep in touch when their relationship is over? It's an interesting way of leaving the record because we're left wondering. Will the audience decide to keep in touch with this band once the album ends? I certainly will.

Find out more at www.yardsaleband.com.