One Track Mind

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I can already hear the haters slagging on me for featuring a band as pop-friendly and semi-popular as Rooney, but I say it’s their loss. Sure, Los Angeles quartet’s first two albums were released by a major label, Geffen Records, but they’re in good company there (like Weezer, Beck, Hole, Sloan, and Sonic Youth). For their upcoming third record, however, the band has decided to try a different approach. They have a new home, California Dreaming Records (part of the Warner family of labels), but the real change is the degree of control the band has had over Eureka, which will be released on June 8th. From the songwriting process through the production of the recorded tracks, Eureka is a release crafted exclusively by the members of Rooney, giving them complete control over the artistic process.

Truth be told, that artistic supervision doesn’t necessarily yield a sonic breakthrough for Rooney–tracks like “I Don’t Wanna Lose You” find the band in their “classic” mode. Still, that’s nothing to complain about. The foursome’s classic cocktail of easygoing melodies and deft hooks in the tradition of E.L.O., The Cars, Teenage Fanclub, and Fountains of Wayne makes for a refreshing, summery potable. (Indeed, it’s hard to imagine a song like this one being released in a different season, as it seems to beg to be played in the sunshine with the windows rolled down. Towards the end, I swear I can even hear seagulls.)

“I Don’t Wanna Lose You” crams an album’s worth of choruses into just over three minutes, including a terrific Jeff Lynne-style breakdown toward the middle. The main refrain, which includes lines like “I push you, I pull you, I hurt you, I argue, I don’t wanna lose you,” is an understated yet funny take on the mercurial highs and lows inherent to every relationship. It isn’t rocket science, but it isn’t meant to be. It is, however, a song that only gets catchier with each passing listen, full of simple and satisfying charm.