Ken Stringfellow, one half of Seattle’s Posies, recorded his first solo album in the first half of 1997 in his own home. One of the first things you notice about This Sounds Like Goodbye is the roughness of it; it is a definite departure from the highly polished, layered sound of the Posies. This Sounds Like Goodbye is Stringfellow experimenting with different instruments and synthesizers and playing outside the confines of the power pop genre of the Posies. The opening track, “Here’s to the Future,” sounds almost like it’s being played back on a scratchy record player instead of a CD. The more experimental songs, like “Unfortunate Threnody,” are an interesting change from Stringfellow’s usual style. Upon first listen, the synthesizers and looping in these songs come unexpectedly and seem to last too long (“Trans-Potato” goes on for four minutes). Songs like “Take Care,” “Your Love Won’t Be Denied,” and “Too True” are devastatingly beautiful with bittersweet lyrics, and make This Sounds Like Goodbye well worth its cost. – Laurel Greenidge