Adventures – Supersonic Home

From the punk scene’s perspective, Pittsburgh’s Adventures comes across like Heartsounds’ Laura Nichol playing 90’s alt-rock covers in indie-punk act Lemuria.  The teaming, mid-range voices of Reba Meyers and Kimi Hanauer offer up warming harmonies well suited for the backdrop of charming pop-rock riffs.  The combo makes the soft spoken quartet’s debut, Supersonic Home, a naturally unravelling, somewhat melancholy showpiece capable of dulling listeners’ senses into a blissful, contented state.  It’s a homogenous record that delivers on the budding promise laid down by the first track.

Opener “Blue Dream Haze” rumbles open in inviting fashion.  Supersonic Home presents the quartet as the type of troupe that would set up shop on a busy street corner and approach passers by with open arms while sporting pastel-coloured “free hugs” t-shirts.  Quick-to-move, songs like “Heavenly” and “Your Sweetness” showcase a wispy yet intended personality, deep in self-reflected thought but without a pretentious bone in Adventures’ body.  With such a steady sound, the album progresses subtly, with Meyers and Hanauer complementing one another as they harmonize choruses, shares lines and trade off verses.  “Surround me with infinity, surround me with possibilities” they sing on “Pure,” reflecting the hopeful messages that make Supersonic Home such a joy.

A few key moments help spread Adventures’ talents beyond their safe zone.  For instance, “Long Hair” casually struts in tune to rumbling bass guitar and softly laced keyboard strokes.  Divergently, “Absolution, Worth Required” squeals open on the heels of fuzzy, distorted chords.  If not for some of these scattered, jolting infusions, Supersonic Home may have suffered from the rest of the crop’s casual comfort and sonic sameness.  As it stands, the album feels far more unified, even if it does venture close to the realm of repetition and probably includes a song or two that could be reclassified as b-sides.

Supersonic Home exhibits all the best qualities of contemporary nostalgia.  In other words, the disc’s soft 90’s alternative vibe feels reassuringly familiar but strikingly relevant.  Adventures may draw inspiration from the past, but Supersonic Home definitely forms a case for making waves in the future.