The Posies – “Squirrel vs Snake” (Singles Going Steady)

Chris Ingalls: Back with their first album in six years, the Posies are the power-popsters who make it all seem easy. It’s a credit to their talent that they can step into 2016 with an album that fits seamlessly into a music landscape that includes bands at least 20 years younger. “Squirrel vs Snake” is a solid single stuffed with smart wordplay, classic-sounding chord changes and gorgeous hooks — sort of like the Decemberists without the annoying Wes Anderson-isms. Welcome back, gentlemen. [9/10]

Emmanuel Elone: Something stands out in this otherwise run-of-the-mill indie acoustic rock track. The instrumentation is pretty straightforward and the vocals have the same quirk that many an indie fan has loved for many years. No, it’s not those things; the strangest thing about “Squirrel vs Snake” is its oddly political/topical lyrics in a song that’s so upbeat and friendly. In the midst of some quick acoustic guitar strums and energetic drums, the Posies frontman warns people to not trust “a government that says I should be spied on”. It’s a sentiment that many would probably agree with, but talking about it over such easy-going pop-rock instrumentation dilutes the message and the song overall. [5/10]

Pryor Stroud: Resurrecting the Posies’ distinctly polished power-pop sound, “Squirrel vs Snake” has a deft uptempo melody that climbs and whirls and quickens its step with irrepressible pop avidity. Laid bare, though, it seems to rely too heavily on the vocal’s treacly sentimentality, and the track as a whole suffers for it. [6/10]

Chad Miller: The tune is pretty cool. It seems kind of derivative in some cases, but oftentimes it rises above the familiarity. Unfortunately, the lyrics seem to be lacking focus although there are a couple of gems buried here. [7/10]

The Posies‘ new album Solid States releases April 29th via Lojinx.

SCORE: 6.75