I have to say, I was really looking forward to this release. The Lassie's last full CD was the wonderful "Pacifico", which sounded like the pre-"Pet Sounds" Beach Boys would have if they were a Christian-based Shoegazer band. (Huh???) When they are at their best, Lassie Foundation are all head spinning fuzz and feedback, discordant guitars played against wonderful melodies all delivered with gusto with the ubiquitous (and at times very silly sounding) high falsetto vocals.
All of those elements are present on "The El Dorado L.P" and, as such, if you were a fan of the last album this one is at least worthy of giving a listen. Songs like "Every Line Has Let You Inside of Me" and "The Battle of Vernon" are noisy little pop masterpieces. "Let Your Boy Come Back" is breezy horn and guitars pop that is not unlike what you you would expect from fellow west coasters Belulah (although lacking in anything resembling the irony and sarcasm of that band.) "You Can't Deny a Broken Heart is just great pop, a charming pastiche of Swervedriver and Merseybeat.
Sadly though there are problems for the Foundation on this outing. For one, Wayne Everett's singing is a lot more self-concious and precious on this album. Lyrics were never a strong point for this band (most of the singing on "Pacifico" is virtually unintelligble) so hearing Everett sing a line like "Calling out across the room / Can you take the brand new beat?" as if it were anything but cheesy is embarrassing to listen to.
Also, some of these songs get annoying really fast. "Powersurge" is just a really bad rewrite of Devo's "Whip It". Even the cool instrumental noise break in the song fails to save it from its sins. The infantile vocals on "Hero" upon hearing once become "endurance listening" after that.
Still one can not hope for anything but the best for this band. They have produced a lot of great music that has gone largely unheard in the indie circles and have faced a lot of resistance for their involvement in the Christian-Rock scene from the mega-hip. (Even I have been guilty of this I must confess and I am not even hip!) Currently the individual members are involved in new bands and projects and the future of Lassie Foundation is questionable at best. I am sure one way or the other we will hear more from them again.

~ Jenn



There's a fighting chance that The El Dorado LP will be the band's final release. There are rumours that Everett is working up solo material, and co-founder Eric Campuzano is working away with his Charity Empressa project. If that's the case, they've saved their best for last. The tones here are crisp and clear, the hooks are pure, and somewhere along the way, someone had the brilliant idea of adding a full-time vibraphone player to the lineup.

The arrangements are unashamedly ornate with the core group of musicians frequently augmented with organ, Rhodes, and horn sections. The Beach Boys fixation is still present, but the band seems to have transcended it here, finding a take on classic pop music all their own. It's not rocket science, it's not going to change the world, but as music-as-pleasant-diversions go, "El Dorado" is a damn good one

~ Chris Brown



If you're not familiar with The Lassie Foundation, you need to be. Why? They're probably the best pop band you've never heard. Their first album, Pacifico, had a sound that was equally composed of sun-kissed Beach Boys-esque harmonies and frothy, choppy feedback and white noise ala The Jesus and Mary Chain. But what really held the album together were the songs. Sticky, sticky pop hooks as far as the eye could see and fun-and-sun slacker lyrics. A perfect album for summer. Each subsequent release showed The Foundation moving farther away from the layered guitars and into more of a laid-back, hazy pop approach. The band remained great, however, churning out fantastic pop song after fantastic pop song, never seeming to slow down or even hit a sour note. Their second full-length shows a band that has hit their stride and is confidently riding it out, sure of themselves and sure of their place in their musical world. And the results are nothing short of amazing.

The album starts out with the hushed "Good as Gold," an almost entirely a cappella track portraying the band with their hands out, "collecting, cause we're good as gold." Kind of a cocky statement, but no need to be apprehensive: they back it up, and then some. "Every Line Has Let You Inside of Me" comes next, riding easily on an echoing guitar line and a simple rock beat courtesy of drummer Jason Boesel (now in Rilo Kiley). The vibraphone hits in the background also bring additional depth to the sonic pallet. Combine this with the next track, the laid-back "You Can't Deny a Broken Heart," and you have one of the best one-two punches I've heard on an album in a long time.

The new disc also shows the band experimenting with some different instrumentation. Whereas many other bands will try to add new elements, throwing things to the wall to see what sticks, the Foundation shows a masterful command of many styles. The horn section on "Let Your Boy Come Back" demonstrates this amply, sax and horn line slipping over each other and giving the track a slightly 70s rock feel, even ending with a great jazzy flute solo.

The CD ends with two of the best Lassie cuts ever penned, "Hero," and "Vive Les Animaux." "Hero" is simply gorgeous, a melancholy ballad which pits vocalist Wayne Everett's smooth voice against that of Julie Martin (wife of Jason Martin, of Starflyer 59). The two sing back and forth over a bed of humming synths, acoustic guitar, vibraphone, and reverbed guitar slides that give the song a spacey, slightly ambient feel. "Vive Les Animaux" ends the CD on a triumphant note, going back to the feedback-drenched style of old. The song itself is slightly silly, with Everett singing goofy lines like "Our love's strong, like her buffalo" with a straight face and deadpan sincerity, and then following those lines with a chorus sung almost entirely in French. Lyrics aside, the music is to die for.

~ Rick Arnow