Lake Street Dive
have quietly built a loyal following with their rootsy, hooky-laden brand of vintage-inspired pop-soul. It's a vibe they once again champion with assured ease on 2024's
Good Together
. The group's eighth studio album and second with producer
Mike Elizondo
,
finds the Boston-bred, Brooklyn-based outfit taking stock of their career and overall creative partnership as a band who have been together for almost 20 years. Notably, the album is their first without co-founding guitarist
Mike "McDuck" Olson
, who amicably left the group following 2021's
Obviously
, with guitarist/vocalist
James Cornelison
coming on board. Also returning are lead singer
Rachael Price
, bassist/vocalist
Bridget Kearney
, drummer/vocalist
Mike Calabrese
, and keyboardist/vocalist
Akie Bermiss
. The album marks another first for the band, who purportedly all contributed to the songwriting early on in the process. The result is a record that feels convivial and breezy, showcasing their warm group harmonies and a nice balance of stylistic influences. The opening title track is one of the more ear grabbing, marked by tart synth hits and a shared lead vocal melody between
Price
and
Bermiss
, all of which nicely brings to mind the '80s new wave soul of
Huey Lewis & the News
. More retro-friendly anthems pop up, including the bubble-gum indie pop of "Far Gone" with its quirky whistled riff pleasantly recalling
Peter Bjorn and John
's "Young Folks." There's also the horn-driven funk of "Better Not Tell You," the gauzy, disco-adjacent sophistication of "Seats at the Bar," and the romantic, '70s singer/songwriter balladry of "Twenty-Five." While the title track is ostensibly a song about a couple falling in love, the track, as with much of
, could just as easily work as a love letter penned by the members of
to each other. ~ Matt Collar