Rob Crow, He Thinks He’s People

By Jemiah Jefferson

Once in a while a full-length album comes out that is nearly flawless; every track is worthy and exciting, the songs get stuck in your head and you don’t mind, and it demands regular re-listenings. Sometimes this is the culmination of an artist’s career, or maybe the opening salvo. With his latest solo record, part of the excitement comes from knowing that this is just another mile post in Rob Crow‘s journey. If his songwriting, vocals, and musicianship continues growing exponentially as they seem to have done over the course of his 18-years-and-counting history of making music, there will be even more joys to discover in the future.

But for now, He Thinks He’s People will have to do. It’s almost overstuffed with brilliance, as if Crow had too many great ideas and determined a formula to match disparate elements together. Somehow, this doesn’t come across as disjointed; instead, each song coalesces into a single self-contained expression. It might be the brilliance of the melodies that helps with that.

Lead single “Sophistructure” flirts with unsettling math-rock rhythms, and the ponderously gorgeous “Scalped” combines heavy drums and a delicate piano riff. The more straightforward songs, such as the deceptively, cheerfully vicious “I’d Like to Be There,” also contain their own contradictions; “Be There” marries an upbeat, friendly tune with lyrics about enjoying an enemy’s gory demise.

If there’s a perfect indie-pop gem in the lot, though, “Locking Seth Putnam in Hot Topic” wins the prize; the guitar demands attention, and the beat demands dancing wherever you are. And yet any song from this album could stand well on its own. This collection of songs is wildly inventive and endlessly intelligent, almost geeky, but far from soulless.

This album is a rare treat, not only musically satisfying, but also engendering a sense of optimism that the possibilities of melody and rhythm continue to be successfully explored. The fun thing is, you can sing along.

He Thinks He’s People was released on October 18 from Temporary Residence Limited and can be ordered from their website.