Ladybug Transistor Can't Wait Another Day CD

The Ladybug Transistor: Kyle Forester (acoustic guitar); Alicia Vanden Heuvel (organ); Julia Rydholm (bass guitar); Alasdair MacLean (unknown instrument); Frida Eklund, Alasdair Mclean, Annie Cunningham, Cheryl Huber, Lindsay Gilmour (background vocals); San Fadyl, Kellie Sutherland, Gus Franklin, Isobel Knowles, Suzanne Nienaber, Gary Olson , Jens Lekman, Margaret White, Roy Nathanson, Heather McIntosh , Jeff Baron, Ben Crum, Amy Cimini.
Personnel: Gary Olson (vocals, 12-string guitar, trumpet, claves); Alicia Vanden Heuvel (vocals, organ); Ben Crum (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Kyle Forester (guitar, acoustic guitar, saxophone, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, organ, Wurlitzer organ, background vocals); Alasdair MacLean (guitar, electric guitar, background vocals); Jeff Baron (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Kevin Barker (acoustic guitar); Margaret White (violin); Amy Cimini (viola); Heather McIntosh (cello); Roy Nathanson (saxophone); Isobel Knowles (trumpet); Gus Franklin (trombone); San Fadyl (drums); Kellie Sutherland, Suzanne Nienaber, Lindsay Gilmour, Cheryl Huber, Frida Eklund, Jens Lekman, Julia Rydholm (background vocals).
Recording information: Marlborough Farms, Brooklyn, NY.
Photographers: Gary Olson ; Lizeth Santos; Vårin Andersen; Frida Eklund; Andrew Hinderaker.
Six albums into their career, the Ladybug Transistor have matured from callow indie youths infatuated with the chamber pop style of the post-PET SOUNDS 1960s to a mature, well-rounded band creating music that belongs in the same tradition. Singer and primary songwriter Gary Olson's tunes have increased not only in complexity but in emotional impact: "I'm Not Mad Enough" and "This Old Chase" are among the band's finest songs. The expanded lineup, augmenting the original group with a new guitarist and keyboardist, also helps CAN'T WAIT ANOTHER DAY considerably, adding more depth to the arrangements. Alongside the Clientele and Lambchop, the Ladybug Transistor are updating and continuing the chamber pop style in fine form.
Can't Wait Another Day, the Ladybug Transistor's sixth album, finds them back in their home studio, Marlborough Farms, after a jaunt to Arizona for their previous release. Gone are the wide, dusty expanses of 2003's Ladybug Transistor in favor of the idyllic suburban sounds Gary Olson and Bill Wells have consistently conjured during Ladybug's long career. Gone too is Sasha Bell, who opted out of the band in favor of a full-time commitment to the Essex Green. Her songwriting, keys, and vocals are missed, but the band drafted in some fine singers to fill her shoes (Alicia Vanden Heuvel of the Aislers Set, Frida Eklund of Alma) and also added Great Lakes member Kyle Forester on all manner of keyboards. Olson also brought in guitarist Ben Crum (also from Great Lakes), as longtime Ladybug Jeff Baron's involvement in the band has lessened, too. So, those are the changes to the scorecard; the real question is, does the record suffer for the lack of old blood and influx of new? The simple answer is no, mostly because Gary Olson hasn't changed. He still possesses the finest baritone warble in indie rock, writes (with the help of his bandmates) unfailingly catchy pop tunes and perfectly pitched melancholy ballads, and produces records that sound like a cross between the Left Banke and Buckingham-led Fleetwood Mac. He also has a knack for picking covers -- in the past their version of Jan & Dean's "Like a Summer Rain," here Trader Horne's "Here Comes the Rain" and Samara Lubelski's "Broken Links," both of which perfectly complement the group's originals. Speaking of which, the songs on Can't Wait are among the best the band has recorded; maybe it's the new lineup or the return to their home studio, but something seems to have spurred the band to give its sound a boost of energy and imagination. They sound a bit more like a rock band and less like a chamber pop ensemble on songs like "In-Between" and "California Stopover,Uncut (p.99) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[A] surprisingly mature collection, all playful guitar lines and smooth saxophones."
Magnet (p.100) - "There's a laid-back, lived-in feel on CAN'T WAIT ANOTHER DAY that could only come with familiarity....[It] has a consistent, radiant aesthetic."
Q (Magazine) (p.121) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[The album] sees strings and brass adding lushness to songs of heartache."