Lake Street Dive have quietly built a loyal following with their rootsy, hooky-laden brand of vintage-inspired pop-soul. It's a vibe they once again champion with assured ease on 2024's
Good Together. The group's eighth studio album and second with producer
Mike Elizondo,
Good Together finds the Boston-bred, Brooklyn-based outfit taking stock of their career and overall creative partnership as a band who have been together for almost 20 years. Notably, the album is their first without co-founding guitarist
Mike "McDuck" Olson, who amicably left the group following 2021's
Obviously, with guitarist/vocalist
James Cornelison coming on board. Also returning are lead singer
Rachael Price, bassist/vocalist
Bridget Kearney, drummer/vocalist
Mike Calabrese, and keyboardist/vocalist
Akie Bermiss. The album marks another first for the band, who purportedly all contributed to the songwriting early on in the process. The result is a record that feels convivial and breezy, showcasing their warm group harmonies and a nice balance of stylistic influences. The opening title track is one of the more ear grabbing, marked by tart synth hits and a shared lead vocal melody between
Price and
Bermiss, all of which nicely brings to mind the '80s new wave soul of
Huey Lewis & the News. More retro-friendly anthems pop up, including the bubble-gum indie pop of "Far Gone" with its quirky whistled riff pleasantly recalling
Peter Bjorn and John's "Young Folks." There's also the horn-driven funk of "Better Not Tell You," the gauzy, disco-adjacent sophistication of "Seats at the Bar," and the romantic, '70s singer/songwriter balladry of "Twenty-Five." While the title track is ostensibly a song about a couple falling in love, the track, as with much of
Good Together, could just as easily work as a love letter penned by the members of
Lake Street Dive to each other. ~ Matt Collar
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