by Tom Semioli
The theme of Too Late to Die Young is optimism, a rare trait to be found in early 21st Century alternative pop music. Longtime Robyn Hitchcock collaborator Tim Keegan and cohorts Departure Lounge have opted for brighter pastoral pastures with producer Kid Loco, incorporating loops, samples, and space-age soundscapes amongst jangling guitars and a firm backbeat. Cuts such as "What You Have Is Good" and "I Love You" are brimming with strong harmonies that evoke British Invasion icons from Gerry & the Pacemakers to the Kinks to the Beatles before, during, and after psychedelia took root in swingin' London. Mentor Hitchcock guests on "Coke & Flakes," an after-hours blues jam that would not be out of place on a late '60s B.B. King or Buddy Guy disc. "Alone Again, And" features ex-Cocteau Twin Simon Ramonde on a track that oozes with new age folk trappings, and equally ethereal are "Silverline" and "Tubular Belgians in My Goldfield." Departure Lounge has forged an enchanting record to tune in, turn on, and drop into.