Allo Darlin’ | We Come From The Same Place [ALBUM REVIEW]

"Back in 1992…" are the first words you hear on We Come From The Same Place, the third full-length album from Allo Darlin’. It’s fitting as the band wears its early nineties influences so clearly on their sleeve. Carrying on the tradition of great Aussie pop bands, like The Lucksmiths, Frente, and even stretching back to The Go-Betweens, this is the kind of college rock that was the antithesis to the MTV "alternative nation" at that time. Elizabeth Morris knows how to phrase her vocal melodies to capture the longing underneath every word. There’s a real tension here that counterpoints the seemingly easy breeziness of the material. Sure, "Bright Eyes" has that super sweet girl/boy vocal interplay; "Crickets In The Dark" comes equipped with a Joan Didion reference; and album closer "Another Year" is carried by a ukulele, but in the hands of Morris and her band these genre tropes don’t come across as clichéd but classic. Allo Darlin’ may not fit into the current musical landscape as well as they would’ve in 1992, but even now their heartfelt and widescreen indie pop will stay with you longer than the songs of their current "alternative nation" contemporaries.

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