Say Hi To Your Mom Ferocious Mopes CD

When Say Hi to Your Mom released his brilliantly titled third disc, Ferocious Mopes, the sensitive-indie-guy-recording-from-his-bedroom thing had been done to death. So had well-intentioned tinkerings with the Omaha sound of Conor Oberst. Nevertheless, what Say Hi offers here is just froot loops enough to skirt cliché charges. The ten song titles say it all -- after puzzling over "Poor Pete Is a Bit Self Conscious," "As Smart as Geek Is Chic Right Now," and "I Think I'll Be a Good Ghost," it's easy to wonder whether Say Hi might be using music to pay the bills until he finds a way to make money off his real gift for naming things. Indulging that thought, though, puts a listener at risk of being overly dismissive of the music, which is overall quite good. Morrissey's dark mood colors the entire outing (fitting for a disc called Ferocious Mopes), but shades of Death Cab for Cutie's smart pop filter through, and so does Conor Oberst's sing-softly-into-a-tin-can sound. Tracks especially worthy of the repeat button are "The Twenty-Second Century" for its imaginative, hooky pop; "The Forest Scares the Hell out of Me" for its skill at channeling Blair Witch-type spooks with a guitar; and "Dimensions and Verticals" for the way it distills the recurring theme of its creator's insecurity. "Draw me with your pencils and pens," Say Hi sings. "Make me much prettier than I really am." ~ Tammy La Gorce

Ferocious Mopes is the third record from Brooklyn, New York's Say Hi To Your Mom, which is actually just a boy named Eric who makes records in his bedroom. There are more people in the band when he plays live. Like the first two records, Numbers & Mumbles (2004) and Discosadness (2002), Ferocious is stuffed full of quirky indie pop. Over lush guitars, fuzzy synths and minimalist drums, the record's protagonists scour junkyards for abandoned rocketships, contemplate what it's like to be ghosts, follow mysterious breadcrumbs into enchanted forests and pretend to be vampires. But despite the fantastical subject nature, there's something universal and human inherent in every Say Hi song. With three critically embraced full length records in just three years, the band has quickly become one of this generation's most endearing and prolific indie rock voices.