Sally Crewe & the Sudden Moves
Shortly After Take-Off (12XU)A musician’s life is a transient one, marked by constant travel, continents of new faces, and perpetual goodbyes. Such is life itself, riddled with arrivals and departures, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. This is the motif of British expat Sally Crewe’s latest, Shortly After Take-Off, which couches broken relationships in issues of travel, whether by planes, trains, or automobiles. Just take a peek at the song titles: “Airport Song,” “My Heart’s a Motorway,” “Good Morning, Aston Martin,” and “Rear View Mirror.” All are variations on the same theme: We’re breaking up, you suck, one of us is taking off. Ciao! Crewe and her Sudden Moves received some production help from Spoon’s Jim Eno, but his Midas touch isn’t evident here. This is simple, tepid pop with clean lines, suffering, in fact, from a bit of overproduction. They’re an earnest outfit, missing a certain oomph that might add a bit of edge to the music, and thus barely better than the average bar band at this point. Perhaps upcoming gigs supporting Spoon’s Texas dates will raise that same bar. (Emo’s, Thursday, May 26)
This article appears in May 13 • 2005.