Arranged Marriage, Dearly Beloved

By Christian Lipski

As a rule, kids never like the music their parents listen to. Likewise, there’s an unwritten law that parents must hate their children’s music. It’s important for young people to develop their own identities as people, and for parents to get a taste of what they put their own parents through. That’s what makes the band Arranged Marriage such a unique treat: father Brad Allen has teamed up with his son Scott to write, perform and produce the album Dearly Beloved.

Both Allens have been writing and playing music for most of their lives (Scott performs with his brother Ryan in the band Thunderbirds Are Now!, and Brad released a solo EP in 2005), and you can hear their polished technique in Dearly Beloved’s songwriting. The duo built their own home studio in Livonia, Michigan for the project, essentially creating the album directly out of the formless void, and the time spent on the preparation could only have helped to strengthen the musical bond between the two men.

The music is distinctly different from Thunderbirds Are Now!’s hyperactive rock, leaning much more towards gentle power-pop. “Not A Waste Of Time,” for example, sounds like an acoustic Raspberries in-studio performance. Sweet and simple, it’s a little jewel.

At other times Arranged Marriage evokes the country-tinged sounds of Wilco, especially when Brad takes lead vocals, as he does on “Everything Is Gonna Be Alright.” Their voices blend together well, as would be expected of a family-based group. Scott’s higher register provides a vulnerable aspect to his leads, and in his harmonies balances Brad’s slightly rougher (but stronger) midrange.

There’s not a clunker in this batch. Each of the twelve songs brings something of its own to the party, but the party’s unifying theme is Pleasing. Whether it’s a bouncing piano tune like “Sit Alone” or the straight country of “Try And I Try” or the psychedelic “Brand New,” Dearly Beloved aims to please, and its aim is Costellianly true. Recommended for fans of: acoustic guitar, electric piano, The Jayhawks, Wilco, Elliot Smith, CSN(&Y), sunshine, lemonade, or love.

Dearly Beloved will be available digitally and on vinyl via Suburban Sprawl Music on April 20. The CD release party will be April 24 at Majestic Cafe in Detroit. Listen to tracks from the album (including the standouts “Sit Alone” and “Not A Waste Of Time”) at the band’s MySpace page.