White Collar Crime represses new LP

Vitality and color are two of the most important ingredients in any melodic record, but in tracks like “Just a Song,” “Dream the Dream,” and “New York Rain,” just three of the songs that comprise the new album from White Collar Crime, 30 Years in the NY Rain, they’re at the very foundation of every sound we hear. While White Collar Crime are definitely divvying out some of the more palatable offerings from an indie syndicate this January without a doubt.

The production quality here is pretty good, but honestly, I don’t think that the aptly-titled “To Be Real,” “Letter to You,” “Just Like Me” (not a cover of the Raiders classic) and the aforementioned “Dream the Dream” need a lot of help from behind the soundboard to be evocative in all the right ways. These tracks are defined more by their tonality than they are any actual fluff in the mix, and had they been produced with any heavier of a varnish than they ultimately were in 30 Years in the NY Rain, I don’t know that we would’ve been able to appreciate them as much as we can in this present state.

BANDCAMP: https://whitecollarcrime3.bandcamp.com/album/30-years-in-the-ny-rain-full-album

Normally I wouldn’t comment on such a minor detail, but the bass lines in “Chasin’ My Tail” and “If You Call” are, in my opinion, what make the two songs as swaggering as they  are. White Collar Crime pay attention to elements within their sound that a lot of other artists would just as soon ignore,  they’re avoiding the sort of sonic oversights that separate the great albums from the so-so fodder.

I hadn’t really heard much about White Collar Crime before listening to 30 Years in the NY Rain for myself;  the dozen songs on the record that serve as my introduction to their sound turn in more than enough substance to convince me of the group’s seriousness as a band beyond debate. They’ve got a great chemistry that is clearly the product of a lot of time spent playing together, and hopefully they’ll make the most of it in the ensuing decade with more music as intriguing as what they’ve released here is.

Nicole Killian