Review Summary: jangling a carrot
A wise man once said “being original is cool but being good is way cooler and often also much harder”, a sentiment Tallies seem to take to heart. On their second album, the Canadian dream pop outfit take approximately zero risks yet manage to put forth an excellent half hour of uplifting and relaxing music. Opening cut ‘No Dreams of Fayres’ combines softly spiralling guitar work with a loveable and highly memorable hook - something the band’s 2019 debut sorely lacked. Elsewhere, ‘Wound Up Tight’ embraces fuzzed out gaze textures and crafts an understated banger out of intertwining layers of feedback, while ‘Am I the Man’ is more explicitly upbeat and unapologetically pop. Even though it might be tempting to draw comparisons to Charly Bliss/Night Flowers/Hazel English/The Day/etc.,
Patina sounds pristine and
good enough to justify its own existence. When the highlight ‘Special’ carefully laces its framework with enough sparkles and ethereal vocal melodies to light up a pitch black sky, it’s hard to feel anything but joy. Tallies make music that, in absence of originality, is of excellent quality.
