Come Up Invisible (We All Want To)

THIS is a messy album in the best way possible. The music created by Brisbane four-piece We All Want To swings back and forth between charming indie pop and rock with jagged edges.

We All Want To

THIS is a messy album in the best way possible. The music created by Brisbane four-piece We All Want To swings back and forth between charming indie pop and rock with jagged edges.

Led by a pair of singer-guitarists in Tim Steward - who also fronted 90s-era Brisbane noise-pop act Screamfeeder -- and Skye Staniford, the interplay between the two is the chief highlight here. Both are accomplished writers with a knack for clever wordplay and memorable melodies.

They opt for some artistic decisions that simply wouldn't work in less capable hands - like opening the album with a sprawling, seven-minute track that features an off-key recorder solo -- yet these four pull off such curiosities with style. The band's self-titled debut, released in 2010, was a solid set containing a pair of stand-outs in Japan and Back to the Car.

It's a similar story here: special mentions belong to Steward's compelling, life-spanning narrative in Where Sleeping Ends; and Shine by Staniford, which begins with subdued instrumentation and ends with a whirlwind of beautiful harmonies. There are no ongoing lyrical themes to speak of, nor is there much sense of cohesion between these 11 tracks, but these absences don't matter: there's not a weak track here. This collection is accomplished, unpretentious and unassuming.

We All Want To is no spring chicken. Steward has been playing live for more than two decades and this is the 11th album he has been involved in. Come Up Invisible is a nod to the virtues of banking on earned musical wisdom and experience.

LABEL: Plus One Records
RATING: 3 ½ stars