Saturday Looks Good to Me

Recalling the effervescent lounge of Margo Guryan and the early, breathy songs of Françoise Hardy, Michigan's Saturday Looks Good to Me has long chased the perfect-pop muse. Spawned in songwriter Fred Thomas's Ann Arbor basement as a recording project for a label that only released albums by imaginary bands, the group has certainly been prolific, putting out seven albums in as many years. Propelled by Thomas's proclivity for blending smooth yet smoky melodies with hypnotically measured rhythms, the outfit shares an orchestral sensibility with like-minded acts such as Red Pony Clock and Ladybug Transistor, crafting some of the most ambitious, inventive, jaunty indie music of the last decade. Guided by a breezy forward momentum and a joyful exuberance that evokes Kill the Moonlight-era Spoon, Saturday Looks Good to Me stirs elements of lounge, folk pop, psychedelia and a pinch of grit into its pristine pop confections with considerable aplomb.