"Numbers & Mumbles" is the sophomore effort from Brooklyn pop musician Eric Elbogen, better known as Say Hi To Your Mom. No sophomore slump, this is bar none one of the pop masterpieces of the first half of this decade.
Elbogen's first album (the superb but comparatively inferior "Discosadness") set up what he does-- a sort of lo-fi indie rock sound with clever, geek lyrics full of pop culture references and a sort of jaunty take on alternative angst. Its the lyrics that often make the songs-- concerns over hearing great records, science fiction metaphores, and lost love because of competitive video gaming. Add to that a sort of mid-90s jangly guitar with an early '80s new wave keyboard sound, and you've pretty much got this.
Remarkably, its his dive into seriousness with the album's closing tracks, the first a cover of "I'm So Tired" and the closer, "The Key of C", that is really superlative. The closer in particular, a song of fading love is just breathtaking.
But before we get there, there's eight songs of great goofy pop music-- the lo-fi rumble of "Pop Music Of the Future" bleeds into the almost glam "A Hit in Sweden". Both tracks are incredible slices of pop music, just amazing. Another album highlight is the very much evocative "Let's Talk About Spaceships", with its funky feel and deceptive non-serious exterior ("let's talk about spaceship or anything except you and me"), its another real standout on the album. Likewise, when the lyrics descend into purely goofy ("Super", "But She Beat My High Score", "Your Brains vs. My Tractorbeam"), Elbogen turns out his best performances-- all three have a sort of melancholy take to them and are geniuses of mood.
Its really hard to describe this album, it needs to be heard to be fully appreciated-- truth is, fans of intelligent pop of any form will probably love this. Essential listening.