After a three-year stint of listening exclusively to Every Night, the third album (a stunning work of art) put out by Saturday Looks Good To Me, rumors of a fourth record tickled my taste buds.

But when Fill Up The Room finally arrived I felt perplexed, thrown off balance. The ingredients I love so much -- brilliantly compiled beats, clever lyrics and a masterful medley of melodies -- remain, but the preparation of them changed. The resulting dish: a hodgepodge of unexpected harmony and unique warbles. And while the shift from the previous record caught me slightly off guard, I gave it a chance, and ended up loving it every bit as much. Apparently, I am not the only one who experienced this chain of events -- the group purposely composed a jarring wave of jams for this project. The intention? Initial shock gives way to eternal admiration.

The make-up of Saturday Looks Good to Me has seen a lot of shifting in membership since its start in 2000 -- if you can even call it a membership -- SLGTM rejects the word "member," due to its exclusivity and innate limitations. The ability of the band to sporadically welcome new faces is its greatest allure: each addition brings a fresh supply of chic, original sound. As a consequence of its continuous and spontaneous altering appearance, the name Saturday Looks Good to Me characterizes the laid back, impromptu approach to getting together with great artists and playing whatever feels right.

Two-years of combining well-crafted thought with impulsive instrumentation later, icon-of-emo Saves the Day decided this gang of highly energetic, enviously clever guitar gurus sounded good to them. An impressive performance as the opening act launched their career into full-force.

Fred Thomas, the mastermind behind the Michigan-born band, meticulously crafts compilations tracing back to retro soul, Motown pop and a whole slew of other funky styles. And noted influences Grateful Dead, Queen and The Velvet Underground (to name a few) can also be heard in selected harmonies.

The song Apple serves as the title track to Fill Up The Room ("I could fill up the room with these things I been thinking about you / It's true") and set the mood for the rest of the record (which is, apparently, a song cycle linking love, death, loss and wonder).

Those core qualities turn up in each tune -- some easier to detect than others. Even in bouncy numbers like Edison Girls and Hands In The Snow , brilliantly crafted, clever and poetic lyrics ("And I watch you drink invisible ink so I won't know when you swallow your words") let onto the underlying heavy-set sentiment.

A blatantly softer, more serious ballad, Come With Your Arms follows, featuring emotional echoes sprinkled with mellow string plucking.

Overall, Saturday Looks Good to Me delivers the usual dose of rich, wry wit and ingeniously crafted combinations of style and sound in Fill Up The Room. I can only hope the next installment provides the same jolt of intrigue and excitement.

Additional Tracks:
When I Lose My Eyes
The Americans

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