Make Up

The clipped guitars and easy ’70s singalong feel of the title track of Make Up sum up the engagingly out of sync feel of Wiretree’s latest, a kind of prelapsarian college rock before grunge broke big and transformed expectations. In that regard, the band continues as before, but it’s definitely a case where a little can go a long way — or perhaps more fairly, that Wiretree scratch an itch that’s decreased over the years. Not that this should stop anybody, of course, and with songs like “The Shore,” another in the line of jaunty and jumping songs that have roots via Motown, the Smiths, the Strokes and beyond, the quartet can easily strike gold at its best. But Make Up’s overall impact — a bit power pop, a bit Peter Perrett and the Only Ones, a bit energetic, but with a bit of melancholy — is a gilding of a lily rather than a remarkable new flower. – Ned Raggett