Equal parts indie rock and Brit-pop, Summer Blanket is a band from South Florida that seems to have an optimistic view of life. The group is basically Keith Michaud and a bunch of guest musicians who worked with a set of loosely arranged songs, and wrote the music as they went. The results are pretty satisfying.
"Mirrorframes" may be the highlight of the album, closely followed by "The Story of Our Lives," a song that Blur would be proud of. "A Girl Named Regret" features Michaud's vocals swaying somewhere between Ryan Adams and Ian McCulloch (Echo & the Bunnymen).
The quasi-title track, "My Summer Blanket" is the ballad here, and carries higher pitched vocals than the rest of the disc.
Charm Wrestling wants to reach for the same heights as Radiohead or Coldplay, and doesn't quite get there, but it makes for a fun hour nonetheless.
3.5 tocks
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