Velocity of Sound's first song, "Please," rips the album open like a greedy kid with a bag of candy. Buried are the paisley arrangements and psychedelic whimsy of past Apples releases; this is brisk, blurry power pop that buzzes by like the J&M Chain's Barbed Wire Kisses or Automatic. "I Want," with its two-chord whiplash riff, is so Ramones-like it's ridiculous -- a cartoon of a cartoon of rock and roll. The speed and spunk are intoxicating. Still, a hallucinogenic haze lingers over songs such as "Baroque," whose harmonies unfold with all the floral majesty of the Zombies' "A Rose for Emily," and the wistful "Mystery," in which Robert Schneider's bubbly vocals sound like they're being blown through a bong.
The most surprising influence on Velocity of Sound, though, is the Apples themselves. Tracks like "Do You Understand?" are prime examples of the band's sound circa 1994 -- an ADD-addled mix of Pavement, the Undertones and early Status Quo that first surfaced on Schneider and company's first, homemade EP. In rediscovering some of their roots, the players have rediscovered themselves. Before Brian Wilson became hip (yet again) and the Apples' own Elephant 6 label became a renowned indie-pop collective, they were a raw, ragged and edgy bunch of pothead kids with delusions of pop grandeur. Now it seems they've backtracked a bit, grounding their orchestral ambition in a little white noise and punk-fueled abandon. Although the band has always had a sweet tooth for playground rhymes and lullabies. Velocity of Sound's frenzied innocence is just as apt to elicit head-banging as bed-jumping. Bring your pogo stick to the pit.
