Celebration Station sounds like what would happen if you found a box of unmarked cassettes at a yard sale and every single one turned out to be a lost power pop or college rock classic. (Captain) S.T. McCrary of The Melters wrote and recorded this entire thing himself, keeping it lo-fi on purpose and leaving the tape hiss in like a badge of honor. This is the sound of someone who knows exactly what makes a great hook and doesn’t waste time overthinking it.

Don’t You Feel Better Off should’ve been an underground hit in some alternate timeline. Hell, one of the songs is literally called No. 1 Hit, which is either supremely confident, refreshingly tongue in cheek or wonderfully delusional. Probably all of the above. McCrary built these songs on rudimentary chords and massive hooks, the kind that burrow into your brain and refuse to leave. Why complicate things when simplicity sounds this good?

For the recordings, McCrary recruited Kallie Tiffault, Stevie Spring (STEEF), and Atticus Lopez (Pope) to bash these songs out, teaming up as T.O.R. Rock ‘n’ Roll Fleet. But make no mistake, this is McCrary’s vision through and through: scrappy, infectious, and completely unpretentious.

LP out now on Tough Gum. Go dig it up.

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