I've always liked Apples in Stereo as an idea and as a band, an affection that stems from their status as one of the flagship bands of the 90s' Elephant Six collective and doesn't wane even when they release something of which I'm not entirely fond. In a decade full of sad sacks showcasing their pain, the Apples were a little ray through the gray, a band that actually sounded happy to be playing music. What a concept.
One inclusion I was particularly pleased to hear is "The Apples Theme Song", which played on the band's splash page a few years ago. The lyrics "We are the Apples in Stereo/ You hear our music on the radio," are a bit of a fantasy (you're actually more likely to hear them on the Cartoon Network, soundtracking "The Powerpuff Girls"), but Robert Schneider, the band's everyman leader with the helium-injected voice, doesn't seem to mind. In his mind, he might as well be on the radio, and as long as you're listening to the Apples in Stereo, they may as well be your favorite band.
Despite the range of years covered here, the fidelity is pretty uniform, and the band's essentially optimistic, sunny disposition holds true across ballads and pop songs alike. Little hints of Schneider's experimentalism crop up here and there as well. UK B-side "So Far Away" has electronic beats and a coating of processed guitar, while "Shine (In Your Mind)" spikes its slide-guitar-laden pop with strange electric keyboard phrases that add just a touch of clang to the song. And it's not all sunshine, either: "The Oasis" sounds like a descendant of "Across the Universe", but the lyrics are unusually dark: "You're such a star/ But don't let it feed your head/ Because the music scene is dead/ Now where you are."
There are a number of somewhat bland mid-tempo tracks and a few sketchy incidental things, like the ultra-brief vocal exercise "Thank You Very Much", but this is a worthy addition for Apples fans who haven't already tracked down every flexi-disc, Japanese import, and vinyl edition in the band's large catalog. One of the best tracks is saved for last. Tone Soul Evolution outtake "Dreams" is a truly pretty song with some nice lead guitar and a bed of mellotron that would have nicely closed the album it was cut from.
This is a great companion to the 1996 loose-ends compilation Science Faire, but if you're not into the band, it's no place to start. The band's debut, Fun Trick Noisemaker, 1999's Her Wallpaper Reverie, and last year's comeback New Magnetic Wonder are all better introductions to a band that these days is often curiously overlooked. Schneider's band never became as notorious as its E6 cohorts Olivia Tremor Control and Neutral Milk Hotel, but he had a huge hand in the sound of both groups (producing In the Aeroplane Over the Sea), and today must be considered one of indie rock's unsung heroes.
