Comet: Chandelier Musings

Considering how little time it's been in existence, the Texas band Comet has drawn 1) a lot of praise, and 2) a lot of comparisons to elegant, slow-moving pop bands like Low and Bedhead. The first response is the only one that's justified. Chandelier Musings, Comet's full-length debut, was produced by former Mercury Rev frontman (and current Shady mastermind) David Baker, and you can tell: Where Low uses clean and beautiful guitar tones to produce a spare, delicate sound—and where Bedhead uses layers of guitars to work soothing magic—Comet creates for itself a hazy, pretty, meandering, slightly psychedelic pop sound that most closely resembles a cross between the Velvet Underground and Baker's softest works. All comparisons aside, this is warm, pretty stuff that's slow-paced, but compelling. It rarely leaps out and grabs you, but it's got a subliminal, hypnotic, head-bobbing effect that lets it grow on you more and more with each excursion.