Insta
"Checklist for Love"
(Sunday Records)

Adam and Catherine Cooper hang onto band names for almost the length of the average Tyson title fight. For those of you who might have gotten up to go to the refrigerator, here is a little scorecard to get you up to date.

Our intrepid couple got their start as the nucleus of Alison's Halo, one of Tempe, Arizona's sterling contributors to the "Beautiful Noise" scene. Think American Shoegaze. The band refused to be pigeonholed, however. They soon completely changed gears and reemerged as the Bacharach inflected Pastry Heroes. After one fantastic ep (Horn Rim Fury) that presaged the current sounds in indie rock by four years, the band packed up and moved to Chicago. Another name change ensued, this time to Kitten Factor and a single or two emerged. A heartbeat later the name was changed again to Insta. It's been a year or so since the new name was unveiled. Could this moniker actually stick?

The seemingly infinite time that has elapsed since their last release combined with the fact that I am a rabid superfan means that their newest effort will either crash and burn in the fires of my disappointment or become one of the handful of CDs that I will rave about when I talk about the music of 2002.

Thankfully, the band has not tinkered too much with their distinctive sound this time out. In other words, more songs that sound like they were written in the mid 60's and then filtered through a post-punk/post-pop sensibility. Catherine's breathy vocals still continue to challenge Sarah Cracknell for the mantle of most alluring songbird in music today. Self professed guitar geek Adam probably had to resist considerable temptation to add layers of effects on top of their delightfully sublime pop songs. That restraint serves the songs well and gives the album a sparse ambience and ever important breathing room. The band does still have a studio trick or two hidden up their sleeves and aren't afraid to bring them out when appropriate. The whacked out guitar of "Eyelash" (or is that whacked out organ?) is a welcome and fitting addition to the band's arsenal of sound. The muted chorus pedal that opens "Pepe's Wish" is a brilliant example of less being more. And is that a Moog I hear on "So Far Away?" Bravo.

There's nothing here as insanely infectious as "Sydney" or as wonderfully sophisticated as "Nite-Lite," but that doesn't mean this is a weak effort by any means. "So Far Away" is a dreamy kick. The nostalgic culinary adventure of "The Pastry Hero" sounds better with every listen. "We know where baking leads." Indeed we do, it leads to irrepressible classic pop songs. The wistful "Mexico Sometimes" manages to strike some of the same emotional chords that they did all the way back in the halcyon days of Alison's Halo. Stirring.

The band also tries something new: Adam gets a chance at the microphone on the all too brief "You Can't Hide Everything." The only other singing I can recall him doing was some back-up vocals back in the Halo days. His voice is certainly up to the task and makes me wonder what the band might sound like if he and Catherine really begin to experiment with blending their voices. Something to build on in the future, I hope.

With "Checklist For Love", the band attempts to do a service for their fans. In the years since their last CD release, they've amassed a small horde of singles and compilation tracks. Some really neat songs ("Leaving With So Little Said," and "Brittle") are rescued from obscurity and properly showcased here as some of the band's best material. Some material, unfortunately, remains uncollected. "Far," from the Sunny Sunday Smile II comp and the contents of the Surround ep (including the superlative "Dim" and an ace cover of the Zombies' "Leave Me Be") would all have fit in well here. Ah well, incentive to track down the originals. One of these days this band will release a killer rarities collection that truly surprise folks who haven't been paying attention.

Is the band's sound as fresh and innovative as when they debuted four years ago? Of course not. Something is only new once. Has their dedication to humming perfect pop songs wavered? Not in the least. Adam and Catherine once again serve up another satisfying platter that is sure to hog my stereo for quite some time.

-Chris