Parks & Recreation - What Was She Doing On The Shore That Night (CD)

All Music Guide

When Michael Johnson finally brought together a stable fullband lineup for his heretofore solo project Reclinerland, the singersongwriter celebrated by changing the band name. What Was She Doing On The Shore That Night? is really a Reclinerland album under any other name, however, although it's a considerably more fullyrealized in terms of its arrangements. From the opening title track, which sounds a bit like Belle and Sebastian at their most resolutely downbeat, the album skips from Anglophile style to style: the plainspoken cybersex love song "The Perfect Love" has a snarky '70s RB feel that sounds like Edwyn Collins fronting the Divine Comedy, while the gloriously ironic "Break Into Song" has the symphonic sweep and bubblegummy melody of a classic Petula Clark side and "Danny Built His House All Spiral," among others, recalls the great janglyguitar UK indie bands of the postSmiths '80s. Johnson's songs are unfailingly melodic, with prolix and often quite funny lyrics, but he rarely comes across as just another clever git. Fans of the Monochrome Set or John Southworth's quite similar take on sunshiny chamber pop will undoubtedly scarf this right up.

- Stewart Mason, All Music Guide