Stay Happy

Album Review

Over the course of their career, Outrageous Cherry has carved out a place for themselves as some of indie's cheeriest pessimists; even their happiest songs have been able to find the cloud around the silver lining. While their previous album, Our Love Will Change the World, was full of at least partly sunny pop, Stay Happy is its overcast flip side, chock-a-block with songs so moody and paranoid that the album's title must be more of a wish than a state of being. Aptly, the most spooked songs on Stay Happy are among its best. "Paranoid World" chugs along on a tumbling beat while Matthew Smith keeps looking over his shoulder, insisting that "there's nothing not to be paranoid about in these times." Meanwhile, "Stay Happy" itself is a fuzzy, Troggs-like psych-pop nugget about trying to look on the bright side, even when "a nuclear war's just a short fuse away," and "The Song They Don't Want You to Sing" has nearly as many conspiracy theories as it does seemingly cheerful harmonies and handclaps. Like Our Love Will Change the World, musically the album focuses on Smith's formidable skills as a pop craftsman, though (as its title implies) "Illuminated Council for World Destruction" nods to Outrageous Cherry's previous psych excursions and adds a new twist with a rambling, free jazz saxophone. "Memphis Stereo" and "New Creature" are both quintessential examples of Outrageous Cherry's sweet garage pop, overflowing with bouncy rhythms and singalong melodies. Of course, Stay Happy wouldn't be an album about trying to stay happy if there weren't some sad songs, and there are plenty of those, too, especially on the second half. "Trust" is the best of these, with organ and tambourine flourishes that add extra drama. Despite brooding songs such as this one, "Solid Sound Gangster," and "It's Not Fun," Outrageous Cherry finds the silver lining with "It's Been Awhile," the album's sweet, reassuring final track. Even if Stay Happy isn't quite as vivid as the album before it, it's still a fine collection of songs about doing what you have to in an uncaring — or possibly worse — world.