The Fall Collection
EP (Imagine & Touch)
Love songs make up the lifeblood of any musician. Who wants politics when someone’s heart has been torn out? Not the Fall Collection, an Austin toddler trio unafraid to sport twin Rickenbackers and pin earnest pop to their sleeves with Danny Dunlap’s driving guitar, Danny Mackle’s simple, steady bass, and Josh Power’s dynamo backbeat. Opening passion-monger “This Gentlemen Caller” mashes a Weezer crush to Guided by Voices’ awkwardness with a shout-out to R.E.M.: “Tears would shed when he sang, ‘I think I thought I saw you cry.'” “Over on Me” and “The Sick and the Nurse” both retain Nineties hero status (Lou Barlow, J. Mascis, etc.), but “Knerd in Shining Armor” traverses the decades, an emo tune for all ages. Like Dashboard Confessional for the musically jaded, the local threesome sweeps up with “Words That Are Too Big for Your Mouth,” a testament to moving on. Hooks abound and words lodge. Add that to the Fall Collection’s exhaustive energy live, and you’ll pine for a full-length.
This article appears in June 17 • 2005.