I've recently discovered that if Brando's Derek Richey is even remotely involved in a musical venture, the odds are good that I'll enjoy it. To be honest, I had actually avoided listening to The Golden Stations for a couple of weeks because I wasn't quite ready to be let down from the high I was on after listening to Brando's The Headless Horseman Is A Preacher. Though this isn't a Brando release, Richey mixed the record, provided backing vocals and instrumentation, and his familar design handiwork adorns the tray card -- hence my anxiety. Thankfully, I can now breathe a sigh of relief. The Golden Stations is yet another gem from Smokeylung.

The key players this time around are brothers Chris and Drew VanWagner, with labelmate Richey along for the ride. The result is a short, but ultimately inspiring album of sweet melodies and jangly guitars. A touch of oddness sweetens the mixture, as on the Flaming Lips-like "Artificial Sun" and the bizarre "Not Human", which sounds like a freaked-out chorus of drunks loudly singing "one more round!" in a pub. Equally bizarre, lyric-wise, is "Manatee Project Pt. 2", in which the brothers sing "I am just a manatee. Stars are all that I can see". This could very well mean absolutely nothing, but the VanWagners sing these crazy lines with such conviction that it makes me wonder if there's some profound hidden meaning behind the words. They're probably just messing with my head, but I can't help but admire them for it.

The highest point on this high-point-intensive CD is the part Elephant 6, part Hollies track "Honor Scholar". No song on The Golden Stations has forced me to hit the replay button as much as this one -- though I must admit that "Drinking With Strangers" is growing on me as well. Maybe I'll ponder it all -- the manatee included -- over a beer.