Shoebox Letters Keep It Simple And Keep It Smart

The title of the new album by Shoebox Letters isn’t exactly a tell-all. While Keep It Simple may suggest a series of inconsequential pop songs, it is, in truth, anything but. The sentiments are weary yet resilient, emotional testimonials to love, longing and the hard choices that life often forces upon us. From the rousing title track and the easy ramble of “Can’t Stop It” to the unabashed sentiment evidenced in such songs as “Drinking Still,” “It’s the Thinking” and “Not Ex Yet,” these songs reveal and reflect the difficult road towards attaining romantic relationships that may eventually endure once the hurdles are navigated successfully. It’s not always easy; as they so eloquently express in “Band Aids and Blisters,” it’s often a case of “hoping for something I likely won’t find.” Still despite its sadder suggestions, this isn’t simply a soundtrack to listen to while shedding tears in one’s beers; rather, it’s a series of narratives that relay hard-learned lessons — full of passion, purpose and perseverance. Indeed, it’s the rumination that dwells below the surface that make these songs so singularly revealing. Even so, the band — Dennis Winslow, Lorin Lee, Dave Stricker, Stephanie Cox, Greg Paul and Susan Lowery — are also capable of adding irony to their hard luck tales, as evidenced by the rousing rave-up of the self-effacing “Boss of Bad Decisions.” Ultimately, Keep It Simple marks another triumph for a group that’s consistently proven themselves one of the most remarkably adept Americana bands on the planet today. And that folks, is the simple truth.