SINCE MOVING to Portland from Kansas City in 2012, Minden’s ascent in the local scene has been powered by classic funk, soul, and millennial lethargy, all in the guise of psychedelic pop. The band’s latest, Sweet, Simple Things, is a sexy brew that pairs well with copious intoxicants and the company of a romantic partner.
The nine-song record kicks off with the slow-burning pop gem “Real Sugar.” The title serves as a possible innuendo, as frontman Casey Burge and vocalist Lia Gist either lament the absence of authentic soda pop or slyly yearn to share sweet intentions with a classy partner. It’s a fun, peppy tune, even pocked as it is with some minor-chord digressions. Burge has emerged as one of Portland’s finest writers of saccharine melodic fantasies, so in either case it’s a winner.
Throughout Sweet, Simple Things, narcotic swells of percussion, funktastic low-end, and choppy rhythmic phrasing from guitarist James Taylor set the tone for Burge’s lovelorn sexcapades, which often come replete with unabashed cosmic flirtation and matter-of-fact come-ons. They’d probably like you to think that sentiment is subtle, but it’s not, and there’s nothing wrong with that.