Like the man said, there are bands that have been about for so long that few remember them when they were young. It would appear that is the case with Innocents Abroad as “Late Spring” is their third album and there has been a whole lot of daylight between this one and its predecessor.
Innocents Abroad, to their credit, haven’t forgotten the importance of melody and, while these ten songs do sound dated, they do so in a good way that reminds you why the music of the eighties and before is regarded with such fondness by those who lived those halcyon days when FM radio was all you needed to get by. It won’t, for example, take much more than a couple of songs – say “King of Luxembourg” and “Dandelion Clock” - to get you joining in on the chorus.
Those guitars jangle like they were possessed by the ghost of sixties folk rock, the harmonies are timeless, the lyrics are trippy soft rock and Innocents Abroad package all this together in a convincing and, undoubtedly respectful, way.
More than just an academic adventure in melodic retrospection. “Late Spring” provides enough proof that Innocents Abroad are still more than just a band that sounds like another band.
The album is available on physical formats from Bandcamp and from the usual digital places.