Philadelphia five-piece Free Energy would seem to have everything they need to take the hipster blogosphere by storm – a place on DFA records and an album produced by the founder himself, James Murphy; a ringing endorsement from Pitchfork; a sound that cherry picks from a helluva lot of influences but somehow stands proudly on its own as something new. But being the next “cool” thing has never been what Free Energy was about. Their music is a refreshing throwback to ‘70s arena rock without being ironic – bombastic riffs that stick in your head like bubblegum, gang vocals that lend themselves admirably to road trip sing-a-longs, melodies that hearken back to ‘60s power-pop. Paul Sprangers sings about girls and summer love and absolutely nothing of higher import because, frankly, that’s all he wants to sing about. It’s unfortunate that Stuck on Nothing was released in the spring, because it’s a summer record through and through. Beach cruising, salty air and salty hair, bikinis, breezy car trips, pool parties, Slurpees that always seem to damn drippy, the smell of tanning lotion, sand that will stay in my car for way too many months, days and days of doing whatever the hell you want – Free Energy have made a soundtrack for all of these things, and made it seem effortless in the bargain.
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