Pop/Rock - Promising Washington State trio-turned-quartet The Lonely Forest, led by frontman and songwriter John Van Deusen, return with an impressive second album of angular, occasionally muscular and expansive pop songs backed with a solid rock punch. The jittery rhythms of XTC and even the propelled drum/guitar interplay and reverb vocals of early Who recordings (particularly on the hair-raising wallop of lead track "We Sing Together") surface over the course of the dynamic aural tapestry of We Sing The Body Electric.

"The Lonely Forest plays indie-pop music," asserts the band in their brief bio, "Pop Pop Pop. Not poop. Pop. Not hip nor hop. Pop." But this isn't milquetoast dance/pop played with synths and samples - this is aggressive, smart and (dare we say) sophisticated music with a driving, tops-down rock engine at full throttle under the hood. Played with commanding, confident, graceful skill, Electric provides a needed jolt of harnessed energy. Says one critic: "Riding the clash between what is dead and alive in rock, The Lonely Forest balances sonic blasphemy with heartfelt insight. This Anacortes four piece learned early how to pick a pocket from the inside out." Recommended.

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