The Apples in stereo were one of the nineties' best indie-pop bands-Colorado guys (and one gal) making joyful, mildly psychedelic noise and writing better songs than most of their like-minded peers. After five years, boy-voiced leader Bob Schneider and cohorts are back with more of the retro-cool stuff they clearly love to pieces. No great departure from earlier stuff, New Magnetic Wonder is full of bright melodies that veer between the Beach Boys and the Kinks, and a guitar-keyboards-drums sound that bounces between hard-rocking, bubbly and lush. There's whimsy and camouflage: gurgling keyboards, bah-bah-bah backing vocals, ELO vocoder, experimental snippets. But from the cheerleading "Can You Feel It?" to the gorgeous "Radiation," the songs consistently hold up on their own. Nostalgic but not cheesy, packed with ideas but usually hummable, they comprise fifty-two minutes of good stuff that can make you feel like a kid again-no foolin'.

Christian Hoard