Music For Life

Take that description, 'acoustic music with electric instruments.' It's self-contradictory. It's not even strictly true. Most of the instruments - piano, drums, guitar - are acoustic.

What's this 'pop folk' thing? Didn't folk-rock go out with bell-bottoms and tie-dyes? (Okay, I know those clothes are coming back, but you know what I mean.) Their folkie friends call it pop and the pop dudes complain that it's too folk.

And then there's the band, made up of people named Geist and Specter and Sceadu (pronounced 'shad-OH'). Are these guys real? For that matter, is Marion Specter even a guy? And why aren't their pictures on the albums? What are they hiding?

Finally, what about the music? Like settling into a comfortable couch only to have a spring break loose and poke you in the butt. They obviously grew up in the 60s - not the psychedelic era, more like Buffalo Springfield meets Love. But they clearly live in the aughts or 00s or whatever we call this decade. They write about grown-up things, too, from grown-up love to growing older, without whining about it all. No, I take it back, they do whine a bit about aging, but they have rollicking fun doing so. No angst, just rueful acceptance you can dance to. (Anyone remember the frug?)

Acoustic music with electric instruments. Phantoms indeed.