Dye It Blonde

iTunes Review

The Smith Westerns’ Dye It Blonde updates ‘70s glam-rock for 21st-century ears with cheeky post-adolescent joy. The Chicago band’s sophomore album builds upon the smart-alecky pop gestures of their first effort by emphasizing sharp chorus hooks, insinuating lyrics and bright production colors. If the teasing ballads and brazen rockers here are any indication, these guys have been listening to Mind Games-era John Lennon as well as Electric Warrior and All the Young Dudes for inspiration. Tracks like “Dye the World,” “Weekend” and “Imagine, Pt. 3” are heavily laden with preening romantic angst, nicely nagging guitars and drizzled keyboard icing. The Smith Westerns spice things up by adding dustings of rockabilly (“Dance Away”), pre-Beatles teen pop (“Still New”) and country (“Only One”) to the mix. While most of the tunes stick to a mid-tempo groove, “End of the Night” stands out for its frenetic riffage and thunderously tumbling drums. At times coolly flirtatious, at others zany and whacked-out, Dye It Blonde is the perfect Senior Prom soundtrack for lovers of the sweetly kitschy.