The Apples in Stereo's third full-length album is a return to their early-'60s Beatlesque sound -- as opposed to the experimental, late-'60s Beatles trip on Her Wallpaper Reverie. This doesn't mean that The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone is a letdown full of derivative, overdone material -- the Apples have further fine-tuned their sunny sound and remain defiantly jubilant on songs like "I Can't Believe," "The Rainbow," "All Right/Not Quite," "20 Cases Suggestive Of...," and "Go." The band relies on more backup vocals -- as well as horns, beefed-up guitar, squiggly keyboards, and handclaps -- which only add to the album's depth. Drummer Hilarie Sidney's stratospheric "20 Cases Suggestive Of...," a rollicking, melodic number that is equal parts melancholy and exuberance, is one of the best tracks on the album. Simplistic lyrics like "She don't like the way you look so she treats you like a crook" (from "Go") are contrasted with more poignant lines like "Once I cut my hand but the wound was not part of me/Now I'm a man there's a wound at the heart of me" (from "Stream Running Over") -- and show that the band is turning toward more introspective ideas than they have on previous efforts. Not every song on The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone is an uptempo number: "Submarine Dream," "What Happened Then," "Stay Gold," and "The Afternoon" are somewhat cerebral and subdued tracks, and are well done even if they're not as immediately accessible as the other songs. Robert Schneider's lyrics are more emotional and personal here than on earlier releases, and the added intimacy, as well as the musical layers, make The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone an intricate, poignant lunar trip.-AMG
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