The Posies – Dear 23 (1990)

The Posies is melodic indie power pop that has, no doubt, influenced many of the late-90's early 00's indie pop rock bands and artists. Their sound is influenced by 60's pop music and in that sense it seems that they were a bit of an oddball in at the turn of the 80's and 90's. Their songs are very catchy and straightforward. Their first album, Failure, was meant only as a demo recording, but it turned out so good that it ended up being released as it is. Dear 23 is the band's second album and the first album to be released on a major label. It's one of their most approachable albums and filled with potential radio hits. The sounds are a bit outdated today, but in terms of songwriting, it's a great piece of work. I only discovered this album quite recently even though I've listened to The Posies for years and years. I bought it here in London as a CD.



Some of the early CD era CDs are really quiet compared to new ones. It's really annoying if you're listening to the songs on shuffle among other albums, you can hardly hear these songs. That's probably why I feel like I really need to take time to listen to this album in its entirety to realise just how good it is.

I saw The Posies live many years ago in Helsinki. They were recording a live DVD on the gig and they ended up repeating the start of the opening track for the DVD at least five times, because they weren't happy about it. That was somewhat a surreal experience as an audience member.

The album starts with a fast paced, almost pop punk song  My Big Mouth. It begins the album with a band without much of an intro. It's maybe a bit strange way to start an album, but at least you know right from the first seconds what the album will be about. Next up is Golden Blunders, which is one of the big hit songs of the album. It's obviously a reference to The Beatles song Golden Slumbers, which is why it is funny that Ringo Starr covered Golden Blunders for his own album. Apology is an acoustic song with beautiful melody. The guitars remind me of Suede's early albums. Any Other Way continues the catchy pop melodies. There are some massive guitar riffs on the background. You Avoid the Parties slows things down a bit. Songwriting is not quite as catchy as before, but it's nice to get a chance to breath freely after so many hit songs. Help Yourselves introduces 80's style heavier electric guitar riffs to the album. This is much more what most of the late 80's alternative rock bands sound like. Mrs. Green has a nice bluesy rhythm and 60's style baroque pop melody. It sounds like it could've been composed by the Beach Boys or The Kinks 25 years earlier. Everyone Moves Away is one of the most beautiful songs on the album. The song is mainly acoustic and there are some great vocal harmonies.

The music video for Golden Blunders is a cliche 90's music video. It features the band playing in the midst of colourful fabrics with the camera changing angles quickly, a man who gets enough of working life, some black and white sequences on the beach and lots of candles. If you would have to name all the cliches in 90's videos, many of these things would probably be there.

On paper, I think everything is right where it should be when it comes to The Posies, but for some reason I've never been super into them. I don't know exactly why. It just doesn't raise that many emotions. The only album I've really been a huge fan of is Frosting on the Beater that followed this album. It's still a very well composed album and features good pop melodies.

Listen to the album on Youtube.