4 stars out of 5
Allow them to reintroduce themselves, their name is H to the I to the double-G, I to the N to the S. It’s been five years since Higgins’ last release, Straight A’s. Now, the duo of Kevin P. Fish and drummer Brian Kantor has returned to once again show off their melodicism and musicianship.
While &’s doesn’t yet have a physical release, I’d have to imagine side 1 would be subtitled Vocals while side 2 would be Instrumentals (though, knowing Higgins, the sides would likely be named after random, individual letters or punctuation). The 8-track album, the band’s fourth long-player, is indeed split right down the middle. The keyboard-and drum-driven “You Don’t Think It’s Real” kicks things off in pleasing mid-tempo form, while a little psychedelic freakout at the end hints at things to come. And come they do in the mellower “Older,” with Fish’s relaxed vocals taking you someplace where it’s always Sunday morning. “I Would Never” is classic McCartney-esque Higgins. But the album’s centerpiece is the joyous “The Problem Solver,” recorded by hirsute wonderboy Josh Kaufman, who also plays bass on three of the first four tunes.
The instrumental half of the album begins with the energetic “Howe Could You,” which sounds like the theme song to a lost 70s private-eye show. “Variations on a Hostile Guitar” calms things down again, featuring a not-at-all-hostile acoustic guitar. (Spoiler alert: Kantor doesn’t enter the fray for about 90 seconds, with a gentle marching beat.) Want to get mellower still? Enter “Like Real Friends,” riding a synth-flute line provided by Andy Gonzales of Elephant 6 favorites Marshmallow Coast. Closing out the album is “Digging Out Again (More Glugging).” It lulls you into a false sense of security with soothing “ahhhhh”s and “da-da-da”s before transforming in the final 2 minutes, 45 seconds into bracing futuristic sounds straight out of Joe Meek’s Telstar playbook.
Ably produced by the worth-a-Google Travis Harrison and the aforementioned Mr. Fish, &’s is another delightful offering from Higgins. Let’s hope they don’t make us wait half a decade for the next one.
Jack Silbert, curator