By the band's own explanation, the 1900s' second full-length was inspired by Christina "Licorice" McKechnie, a member of the Incredible String Band and a spiritual seeker who disappeared in 1990. But casual listeners probably won't find this story very obvious or especially compelling: On its surface, Return of the Century plays less like a biographical concept album and more like a series of tough-minded break-up songs that paint their vocalists as emotionally and sexually candid, if not occasionally even callous. "If life was lonely then I'd be blessed," sings Jeanine O'Toole on "Lay a Ghost", "if that was all I missed." These aren't life-changing relationships they're singing about. In fact, they're barely worth the time, save the songs that came out of them.
In that regard, the 1900s recall another musician who many say has been missing for years: Liz Phair, whose Exile in Guyville was full of similar postcoital postmortems set in Chicago. She was, of course, much more explicit than the 1900s, whose lyrics are veiled and often playfully obscure, with songwriter Edward Anderson constructing knots of words for the listener to untie. Trading off vocals with O'Toole, he smartly leaves these songs coyly open-ended, so they could pertain to McKechnie's biography or to some Fleetwood Mac-style romantic pyrotechnics. But they have too much wit and too many layers of insight to be anonymous. Standout "Tucson" recalls a road trip through the Southwest and its fallout: "I'm not so sorry that I took you along, you only saw me naked once," O'Toole sings, her voice steeled yet wistful. There's a lot to unpack in those lines, which sound like both a consolation and a kiss-off.
If the sentiments are tough, the music itself is tender, borrowing from Belle & Sebastian and Brill Building pop to create a sound that is both pastoral and urbane, straightforward yet sophisticated. Anderson's hooks arise from unexpected turns of melodic phrase, and verses give way to rousing instrumental passages like the bridge of "Lion's Fur" and the galloping disco-breakdown on "Babies". Return of the Century is enticingly spare compared to the band's 2007 full-length debut, Cold & Kind (whose title still applies), as if the sextet were still learning how to deploy their extensive roster. Andra Kulans' strings slice through "Jean Demon", alternately underscoring and undercutting O'Toole's pleas, and on "Bmore" they all click into a tight showtune groove anchored by Charlie Ransford's bass. "Overreactin'" opens with heavy breathing and chintzy boudoir beats, which ought to be either too hokey or too obvious but actually provide an apt introduction to a song about sexual compulsion. Whatever their inspiration may have been, the 1900s have turned their romantic misgivings into confident, catchy, and deceptively cheery pop.
