Peep on PoP- Telekinesis

Telekinesis- 12 Desperate Straight Lines (Merge- 2011)

~by Gabe McBride

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Michael Benjamin Lerner’s Telekinesis isn’t inventing a new mousetrap, in any way, shape or form. He carefully selects the best bits from Cure-ish post-punk and American power pop to sing about girls and love, so he can presumably find a girl and fall in love. The songs on 12 Desperate Straight Lines tend to remain happily mid tempo rockers with the occasional breaks for keys and thudding bass lines. Lerner’s man-child vocals (not to mention his bespectacled, slightly nerdier Michael Cera mien) add to the overall effect nicely, and do a great job of burnishing Telekinesis’ ‘Matthew Sweet for the 2010’s’ personality.

12 Desperate Straight Lines is a “grower” in the best sense of the word. While initial listens do a solid job of getting the toes tapping,  and it’s easy to find yourself singing a line or two a few hours later, or repeating some of the catchier guitar licks in your mind, waiting to fall asleep. Eventually, the articulate, effortless tunes set up shop in your brain and reconnect some familiar neuronal connections.   

For fans of: Velvet Crush, Sloan