Thingy: Staring Contest EP

The apparently defunct San Diego band Heavy Vegetable made two great albums (The Amazing Undersea Adventures Of Aqua-Kitty And Friends and Frisbie) that pulled together a remarkable melange of infectious hooks and sugary treacle. Like Guided By Voices, Heavy Vegetable kept hitting upon perfect melodies and fragments of perfect choruses, while somehow resisting the temptation to turn them into smash-hit pop singles. But when singer/guitarist Rob Crow released his first solo album (Lactose Adept), fans' worst fears were realized: Crow let his talents devolve into a numbing series of cutesy, low-fidelity quirks, while rarely attaining his band's knack for glistening pop beauty. Thankfully, Crow's new project Thingy—which is basically an acoustic incarnation of Heavy Vegetable, complete with vocal partner Elea Tenuta—returns to Heavy Vegetable's fine form, piling on tight, hyper-hummable harmonies and warmly strummed guitars. "¡Pony!" is way too precious, but most of this stuff captures the restless creative energy for which Heavy Vegetable should have become famous years ago. This seven-song, 12-minute EP is just a taste; a full-length comes out in a few weeks.