I often dream of alternate realities in the music industry. Considering the sheer volume of acts that exist, available for consumption by average Joe or Jane Q. Recordbuyer, an infinite amount of alternate-reality scenarios exist. Sometimes, I dream that Nickleback managed one hit before fading into obscurity, and that Chad Kroger is now the resident a-hole in the current "Surreal Life" house. Once I toyed with writing a concept review of Blackalicious' Blazing Arrow, set ten years in the future, in a utopia where that album became a huge phenomenon and subsequently the blueprint for quality hip-hop for years to come. I have envisioned an imaginary coda to "The Christmas Shoes" that finds the child, in actuality a con artist-in-training, gloating over his own ability to spin a good sob story and swindle self-righteous bastards out of a few bucks; sometimes, in these dreams, The Who and The Beatles realize that they're both down to two original members apiece, and combine to form The Whotles; oh, and there's this one where Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, and Nicole from the Pussycat Dolls are stranded on this desert island with me, right, and...

Ahem. Point being, that there's another alternate reality that I fantasize about on occasion that, actually, doesn't sound like it would be that much of a stretch. It's the one in which Massachusetts homeys Guster ride several crucial singles to the top of the pop charts, which results in a reputation for the trio as an immaculate singles band. Following this, Guster become another one of those bands with an absolute nut-buster of a best-of compilation, one of those acts like Van Morrison or Creedence Clearwater Revival who have so-so album sales, but one crucially sequenced compilation finds its way into the hands of pretty much everyone the world over. (Do you know anyone who doesn't have Van Morrison's greatest hits? I mean, I agree that they should augment that purchase with Astral Weeks, which might induce a second puberty but will only run you about 7 dollars, but seriously, that greatest hits disc is in every cd wallet I come across.)

Of course, this didn't happen. Local rags lionize the band, and a hardcore fanbase always finds Guster shows full to capacity, so it's not as though they've gone entirely unnoticed; but to the public at large, they're nobody, or if they're anybody, they're that band that sings the "Write You A Letter" song (it's "Amsterdam", guys). Oh, and I know at least a few waiters who know "Careful" because it's in regular rotation at their restaurant. That still doesn't leave a big margin of casual fans.

That, I suppose, makes Guster an act with a "cult following", an unfortunate designation usually meant for jam bands and charismatic leaders that want you to drink the punch. It's a shame, because while this longtime fan will be the first to admit to their weaknesses, when Guster is on, they're on in a major sorta way.

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Guster write pop songs in an extremely classicist tradition. Paul Lorentz's great review of their fourth album, Keep it Together, accurately compares them to The Turtles, both in their summery pop aesthetic and their lack of relevance to the general public. A general propensity for optimism and a way with a hook certainly suggest the "Happy Together" boys; in a broader sense, Guster's melodic template has pretty much directly descended from the Beatles. In fact, I'll go as far as to say that when Guster are standing up as tall as they can, they're shoulder-to-shoulder with the best pop songsmiths ever.

What separates Guster from the Beatles - and puts them in closer alignment with a band like The Turtles - is an inability to sustain those heights for the length of an entire album. Guster's early independent albums Parachutes and Goldfly were largely acoustic affairs, back when Guster was two parts guys with acoustic guitars, one part guy with bongos. (Parachutes, in fact, was composed and recorded in dorm rooms at Tufts University.) It's a formula that's charmingly simplistic, but doesn't allow for a wide spectrum of musical possibility, and much of those first two albums are personified by the songs that stick out, the ones with the best hooks. Third album Lost and Gone Forever broadened the spectum; on Keep it Together, the dam bursts open.

Guster die-hards, as a result, initially railed against Keep it Together; the addition of instruments that weren't of the acoustic variety, the keyboard flourishes, the full drum kits played with sticks, all certainly signs of the impending Guster-pocolypse. Come to think of it, critics don't like it much either, which would seem to suggest that it's an album most enjoyed by the popular market, except that the popular market never seems to latch onto Guster.

But those who invest the time in Keep it Together will find themselves rewarded with an extremely pleasant listening experience. There are three people accountable for this: one, Guster themselves, for crafted sugary, irony-free pop for your listening pleasure. Two, the listener, for not allowing such unabashed optimism and pep-in-the-step songcraft to go lost on your (admittedly jaded) ears. Last, whatever engineer sequenced the album, as it is structured in a most unusual way, front-loading it with minor radio hits and pretty much all the good songs, and allowing the less impressive tracks to wander about at the end. It's like someone took the cd and held it by the corner and shook it, and all the best bits held on. This is all quite helpful, since it prolongs having to ever listen to such blah songs as "Long Way Down" and "I Hope Tomorrow is Like Today", and you really don't even have to listen to them out of anything other than fairness and curiosity.

Which leaves the stuff that sticks to the ribs near the top, and there's a decent amount of that. For all my talk of the signature Guster sound, it seems as though I've never discussed the vocals, and that seems a grave oversight on my part; after all, Guster's biggest selling point that isn't their hellaciously infectious hook sense is their immaculate vocal work. Apart from drummer Brian Rosenworcel, nobody in the band offers irreplaceable instrumental prowess; rather, they lay down solid acoustic guitar rhythms and very simple, non-distorted electric guitar figures and sing over them. Vocal duties are divvied up between Ryan Miller, who sings in an easy, crisp tenor that reaches for the stars without ever sounding strained, and Adam Gardner, a low-key, inexcitable baritone, who brings Miller back down to the ground every time a high A seems to be making an attempt to leave the stratosphere. They divide up vocal duties almost-evenly, with Miller perhaps getting the larger share of vocal turns (understandably enough); Gardner, less of a vocal virtuoso, gets more stage time than you think, perhaps because Guster are smart enough to realize that he's pretty damn good at bringing personality to the vocal lines that are easier to sing along with. This focus on vocal interplay makes them something like the acoustic pop version of System of a Down, except they're harmonizing lines like "others lie, lie, lie, they adore you" instead of "choking chicks and sodomy".

Those ever-reliable vocals are banked on early on an album top-loaded with its best tracks. Opening track "Diane" is an infectious ballad, slightly dog-eared and loping, colored with acoustic guitars and clean electric lines; in the second verse, when the percussion kicks up a bit and Ryan's voice soars an octave up, it becomes apparent that Guster - never much of a rock band, truth be told - has truly busied itself trying to write pop songs that approach Beatles-esque heights. They almost do with "Diane", and they certainly do with "Careful", which could be the most perfect pop song around these days. "Careful" breaks out Guster's secret weapon - hard-core vocal harmonies - for that damnably good, gift-from-God chorus, and when Adam Gardner's baritone sneaks in under Miller's high, lilting lead, it's almost sneaky how it makes for damn good listening.

"Amsterdam" - the "gonna write you a letter" song you've probably heard, perhaps in Ruby Tuesday's or FYE or something, and never quite figured out who sang it - opts for a more full-bodied rock and roll sound, tossing in a full drum kit (as opposed to Rosenworcel's trademark hand-based drums) and electric guitars to best "Counting Crows circa 1994" effect. It's a cute kiss-off, but I can't deny that I like "Homecoming King" much better, what with the minor-key arpeggiated guitars in the verse leading into the cute little twee organ lines in the chorus; plus, the "back to Massachusetts" part of the chorus is loads of fun to sing along with, and I bet that when Guster play shows in their home state, that's the singalong of the night.

"Ramona" is "Careful"'s junior, a little bit slower and a little bit more cutesy ("why'd you have to be so nice?/ a wink and a girly smile") but every bit the classy pop song; when the plucked acoustic guitar strolls in for a melancholy Miller-sung bridge, it all seems to come together beautifully. "Jesus on the Radio" is acoustic, banjo-fied bluegrass stomp that manages to marry that sound to Guster's particular brand of pop, and rather successfully. Might just be the banjo, of course, but it sounds as cool in a pop song as it did in "Unwell".

"Come Downstairs and Say Hello" is long (for a Guster record, at least), suitelike, shifting shape and structure, incorporating octave guitars and E-Bows into this low-key, slow-burn ballad. It's nice, but next to it, miscalculated rocker "Red Oyster Cult" sounds woefully out-of-place, and actually rather awful; it sounds a thousand times more energetic on the Guster on Ice live album, but I suppose that doesn't help the situation when you're wondering why an uber-percussive song penned by the drummer isn't at least a little bit punchier. And I always forget how "Long Way Down" goes, so I suppose that's hardly a good sign.

But all told, Keep it Together is actually a pretty little album. The harmonies and the songcraft are there in full; there are nods to the Beatles, to '70s AM radio, to previous Guster records. They falter a lot, and they've never been able to truly sustain album-length glory; their latest, Ganging Up on the Sun, has the consistency, but lacks the pop sensibility. Which is all to suggest that, until a Guster best-of worms its way onto the charts, you might wanna go with Keep it Together. Rationale: it's not quite as good, pound for pound, as their previous album (Lost and Gone Forever), but it does have "Careful", and that means it has the possibility of making life just that much better for you.

I'm for real. The song has magical powers, dude.






Recommended: Yes