My god, what a progression! Believe me that there is merit behind my words: Pomegranates were successful in their debut, last year’s Everything Is Alive, but this, this sophomore release, this Everybody Come Outside – this is something else entirely. And it’s mind-blowing!

Pomegranates were always an off-beat pop group, an oddity to add theatrics to such an oft stale and monotonous and homogeneous genre. In Everybody Come Outside, they take the nuances that made Everything Is Alive such a great album and kick the notch up to eleven. Like the theatrics. And the sleepy shoegaze. And the emotive shouts front-man Joey Cook lends to select songs… and it’s all really, really great.

The bounciness and buoyancy remains vibrant; you can almost see the band smiling and dancing around as they perform. Opener “Everybody Come Outside” certainly fits that scenario, whereas “This Land Used To Be…” is a tune about being homesick and reminisces on the nostalgia of earlier days. Yet these tunes are not entirely different, despite opposing tenor. They still include all the elements that make Everybody Come Outside an amazing release, from the instrumentation to the blend of pop with shoegaze, to the trade-off of vocals and moments of harmony. Even sleepier songs like “Corriander” remain upbeat and pop-ridden.

Everybody Come Outside has the same amount of hooks, catchy guitar riffs, and memorable vocal jabs. It’s just as light when it needs to be, and as angry and frustrated when appropriate. Everybody Come Outside is, in all honesty, near perfection.

Pomegranates: Corriander [mp3]

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Lujo Records [CD, 2009]

1. Everybody Come Outside
2. Beachcomber
3. The Last Used To Be…
4. Southern Ocean
5. Piano
6. Corriander
7. 384 BC
8. Svaatzi Uutsi
9. Jerusalem Had A Bad Day
10. Tesseract
11. Acoustic