The High Strung are a four-piece from Detroit, Michigan fronted by singer, guitarist and songwriter Josh Malerman. They claim to have by-passed the blues and tapped directly into the heady spirit of commercial pop.
Since their bio contrives to be deliberately enigmatic you are left to gauge what the band are about from the music alone.
From the somewhat arch tone of Malerman's vocals and tongue in cheek lyrics, it's fairly safe to assume that they want to stand aloof from the mainstream, happy to be all ironic and post-something or other.
"I want to be buried in the place you get married" Malerman sings morbidly on Buried while on Rats Rats Rats he imagines himself working as "a clerk at the Church of Satan".
They come over like a poptastic Pavement with nods towards The Flaming Lips
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and are at their best when at their cheesiest, like on the splendidly titled Sometimes It's Odd, Sometimes It's Like God or on Single/Alone ("All of my friends have girlfriends").
After six albums and over a decade together they are too old to be high school pranksters but not too far past it to milk their adolescent memories.
This is one of those frustrating records where the performers seem to have some good jokes but keep forgetting the punch lines.
The High Strung's website
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