Connections Foreign Affairs Black Vinyl Edition

Since 2013, Columbus, Ohio's Connections have made four nearperfect albums of lofi
pop majesty for the seminal Midwest label Anyway Records, and "Foreign Affairs" -
their latest album (and first for Trouble In Mind), continues that winning streak with
fifteen songs packed with sardonic tunefulness and Buckeye bombast, firmly planting
them in the canon of the Ohio Sound. Connections sprung forth from the ashes of
Nineties pop band 84 Nash, infamous for being the only non-GBV related band
released on Robert Pollard's own Rockathon Records and comparisons to the Indie
Rock underdogs seem inevitable, if not a little shortsighted. Connections' brand of
indie rock definitely has one foot in The Nineties but maintains a classicist's penchant
for nuanced & timeless rock'n'roll. Many songs use classic pop structures (see "Love
Me Still"s quiet/loud/quiet power ballad-isms) but subvert them with a clever melodic
twist, a bonkers twinguitar solo or unexpected synth squiggle underneath. These guys
have done their homework, but nothing feels studied - they've drunk from the waters
of the Ohio Underground and the tunes flow forth naturally, with nods to their
Nineties brethren (GBV, Breeders, Gaunt) as well as idiosyncratic Midwest legends
like Mike Rep and The Quotas or Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments. For every
obvious, life-affirming hit on 'Foreign Affairs' (the bouncy "Good Cop" or bombastic
"Low Low Low") there are equal numbers of stealthy earworms like the chiming
"Short Line" (with it's humming anti-chorus), or the yearning, organ-drenched
"Downtown" to name a few. The sixteen songs ooze familiarity and an instant lyrical
relatability, with singer Kevin Elliot's lyrics reveling in the everyday's little details;
good friends, love and rock 'n' roll with restlessness and desire in a harsh, unforgiving
but still beautiful world.