Let’s get this out of the way right now: Fancey is the solo side-project from the New Pornographers guitarist/keyboardist Todd Fancey (also note that New Pornos’ drummer Kurt Dahle contributes his services). As that band takes a break (leader Carl “A.C.” Newman also has released his first solo record), Fancey took the opportunity to record his own songs. Fancey is a collection of delicious summer time hits influenced by (as the bio rightly states), “Beach Boys, Todd Rundgren, Emitt Rhodes, and The Assocation” (I couldn’t have said it better myself).

"Carry Me” opens the record with a bouncy 70s AM feel with Zombies-esque vocals. “Dial Jupiter” mixes up lite-rock and indie pop (a la Papas Fritas) with blasts of Nuggets fuzz guitar. Throughout the record, songs are peppered with wonderful changes; “Sunbrite” and "'Til The Morning Comes” (the latter a great song with a big hook tapping into the same source as Stars and Neil Halstead/Mojave3) are especially notable. “Rock And Roll Rhythm” is the most, well, rockinest track on the record (some nearly Boston riffage and solos). The closing track, “I’ll Be Down," is just-this-side-of-melancholy pop gold.

The problem with emulating the past, to the extent Fancey has done here, is one can dismiss the effort as pure nostalgia, a trip down Derivative Lane. Over ten tracks, Fancey proves that he is a songwriter, crafting tunes with smooth-as-silk changes, hooks that gently penetrate yer eardrums, and sticky melodies. Infusing the songs with enough contemporary guitar riffs makes it more than just derivative.
One record that comes to mind when listening to Fancey is James Iha's (Smashing Pumpkins) 1997 solo record, Let It Come Down, a record with a 70s AM radio soft-rock vibe. If this is your kind of thing, you will dig it. Otherwise, the laid-back Christoper Cross-y shtick gets a bit long-in-the-tooth. Still, it’s a pithy record (at just over 33 minutes), ensuring that overkill will not mar the listening experience.

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