Various Artists: Beautiful Escape… is Coming Right Along EP

The Posies were a power-pop outfit from Washington State that didn’t so much set the world on fire as give it a nasty Chinese burn. They did, however, produce some mighty fine tunes and at least one classic album, Frosting On the Beater. (The two remaining original members, Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow, are also at least as famous for being instrumental in the reformation of Big Star.) The clumsily titled Beautiful Escape… Is Coming Right Along is a seven track sampler of the forthcoming 45 track (3 CD) album containing cover versions spanning the entire career of The Posies. Homage albums such as this often provide new and interesting takes on the source material. Unfortunately, that cannot be said of this release. The artists on this selection do have a good crack at the songs but hardly any of them do anything that might be deemed original. Of the seven tracks present on this CD only Darling Cait’s version of “Precious Moments” and Jim Protector’s “Coming Right Along” really stand up to any scrutiny. The others just sound like pale imitations rather than the intended tribute. The fact that three of the tunes on this collection come from Frosting On the Beater speaks volumes. While the full 3 CD set might tell a different story, this sampler showcases the songs of that greatest album by The Posies and suggests that you might be better off listening to that instead.