Album Review: The Skygreen Leopards ‘Family Crimes’

Californian duo The Skygreen Leopards are back with their first LP in five years, ‘Family Crimes’. Fans of the first hour might complain about their Pop approach, but this has been the case for almost 10 years now and, in the end, ‘Family Crimes’ holds no real surprises.

Across 14 songs, The Skygreen Leopards deliver concise, sun-drenched Psych-Pop songs with some melodies that stick. Nothing has the calibre of some of their earlier material though, but there are enough bursts of creativity to please fans both old and new, as in ‘WWIII Style’ and its lovely guitar lick that comes halfway through.

If you’re into sweet Pop music that plays well in the background, you’ll probably love this album but, unfortunately, when the band has the opportunity to execute a potential hit, as with ‘Reno Wedding’ and its catchy guitar intro, rather than sounding exciting and uplifting, it is blurred in a psychedelic haze that sucks the life from it. Once again, it’s a short piano motif halfway through that lifts up the song from the ground.

Overall, the songs are all pleasant but none of them really stand out in a way that would make you want to turn up the volume if they came on the radio. The tempo is pretty much the same throughout the album, making it sound increasingly like one big song as you move past the eighth. It’s far from being all bad though, and the duo obviously have talent when it comes to arranging songs and coming up with harmonies and secondary melodies. Unfortunately, those secondary elements are often catchier than the ones at the front, and we doubt the casual listener will notice them.

By Brice Detruche