Colleen Green's third album, Cool, marks something of a departure for the singer/songwriter as she leaves behind well-cultivated lo-fi pop punk roots in favor of a more sophisticated alt-rock sound. Working with producer Gordon Raphael and a session drummer, she cleans up almost all the noisy guitars, adds some punch to the low end, and fine-tunes the songs to the point where they sound like lost nuggets from the late '90s. Where previous albums have sounded like they were made out of enthusiasm and cheap tape, this album comes across like a carefully plotted, sparsely constructed short story where the main character slowly reveals herself bit by bit. Mid-tempo songs with very '90s dynamics that lean on a soft verse and loud chorus predominate as Green sings about the overly complicated nature of life on "I Wanna Be a Dog," reminds herself about manners ("It's Nice to Be Nice"), makes clear her preference for side roads while driving (and living) on the moody "Highway," and ponders the imponderables ("How Much Do You Love a Husband?"). With subtle melodies, Green's even-handed vocal delivery, and polite production that treats the guitars the same way an old-school grandma cares for her nice furniture, the album is polite and unassuming to a fault. Only a few songs break through the overwhelming pleasantness to make a deep impression. "I Believe in Love" dials the tempo down to a grungy dirge, and biting guitars frame vocals that transmit some real emotion. "Natural Chorus" is a motorik romp that sounds like nothing else she's done; the driving rhythms and vintage synths sound lifted from Stereolab, the choruses explode like heavy metal sunspots, and Green's vocals are just part of the mix instead of being out front. It's a radical sonic shift and could be a fascinating direction to explore, much more so than the borderline cookie cutter sounds that make up most of the rest of the album. Like many artists who have stripped away the noise and rough edges from their sound, what's left over isn't as interesting as it could be, and it's hard not to imagine that the songs on Cool would be better off with a layer of liberally applied grungy fuzz coating them. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi

1		Someone Else
2		I Wanna Be a Dog
3		Posi Vibes
4		Highway
5		Natural Chorus
6		You Don't Exist
7		It's Nice to Be Nice
8		How Much Should You Love a Husband?
9		I Believe in Love
10		Pressure to Cum

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