Ask Me About My Invisible Friends

The artist formerly known as Say Hi To Your Mom (secret identity: Eric Elbogen), currently shortened to Say Hi (as in to no one in particular, and particularly not your mother), returns in 2008 with The Wishes and the Glitch, released again on Elbogen’s Euphobia imprint.

One might speculate that the last three words in the band’s name were lost somewhere in the midwest, amongst a trail of Brooklyn artifacts and shards of the east coast on their way to the Pacific Northwest. It may also be a case of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah backlash, though we’ll never know.

Despite the change in name and backing personnel, Elbogen continues on the trajectory towards catchy lo-fi indie-pop greatness hinted at on last record, Impecable Blahs, and the Invisible Friends’ favorite, “These Fangs.” Gone is the obsession with vampires, as adjustment to his new base of operations is the theme of The Wishes and the Glitch’s opener, “Northwestern Girls,” during which Elbogen seems to have found his inner Will Sheff.

Elbogen’s songs remain compact and appealing in their sense of deceptive effortlessness. Despite dropping topics related to all things undead, the overarching tone of the record is a dusky melancholy, but somehow retains a sense of pop-likability (see “Toil and Trouble”). It’s like the seasonal affective disorder shows, but Elbogen can’t help but sing about it accompanied by cute falsetto back ups and clever hand claps.

Order the record directly on the bands’ website below.

Listen: “Northwestern Girls“, “Toil and Trouble“, “Zero To Love” from The Wishes and the Glitch, available from Euphobia Records.

http://www.sayhitoyourmom.com/