Pop culture loves regurgitating its past, so calling an album Modern Nostalgia is asking for trouble, but Midcentury’s debut embodies both halves of that title. Made up of former members of Turncloak and Wonderbitch, the Austin quartet turns a laser-sighted focus on the airy, groove-lite college rock that crossed over from the UK in the late Eighties via mostly forgotten names like China Crisis, Prefab Sprout, and American cousins the Ocean Blue. Guitars glint, synths riff politely, rhythms percolate tastefully, and voices croon boyishly like 120 Minutes still ruled MTV. Yet the band does more than just attempt to acquire Real Estate. The attention paid to pop songcraft on “Invoke” and guileless energy applied to “Warrior” illustrate a love for this sound pure enough to move the album from homage to revival. Midcentury pulls from the past, but only because it still loves playing with those old toys.
This article appears in May 25 • 2018.
