Creeper Lagoon is about to leap from indie-rock bumper sticker popularity, to full-fledged rock stardom.

All of the elements are poised and ready with its latest release “Take Back the Universe and Give Me Yesterday.”

The new album features a lot of typical fan-pandering touches, but what separates Creeper Lagoon from the run of the mill West Coast indie bands is its killer combination of thoughtful, precise lyrics; fantastic vocals courtesy of writing-singing duo Ian Sefchick and Sharky Laguana; plus the balls-out guitar tracks included on every song.

Lead vocalist Sefchick unfortunately just so happens to be the token freaky-artsy, lead singer.

He is quirky in his daily life (he dropped everything, ran away from an important interview and was hell-bent on driving somewhere far, like Ohio. He made it to Utah), drinks to excess, and writes lyrics that haven’t been heard since the likes of Pavement.

But there is no comparison between Pavement and Creeper Lagoon. It’s like apples and oranges, both have their tasty qualities.

“Take Back the Universe” seems to be a breath of fresh air for the group after having spent some time away from the world at an ostrich farm composing their latest opus. Flowing from sweet, sentimental songs to instrumental tracks, the album is continuously enjoyable.

The instrumental track, “She Loves Me Not,” is serenely perfect. It isn’t some overly weepy acoustic nonsense. Rather, it’s a mental song of sitting in a desert at night watching the satellites go across the starry sky. It’s got a bit of a country music twang to it. The song’s only downfall is that it’s just too short.

Without being repetitive or commonplace, Creeper Lagoon has a distinct sound that is such a joy to listen to. Granted, the songwriters draw on the overused love theme present in every sad boy album that is cut. But, instead of crying in their beers, Sefchick and Laguana turn the sadness into mature, melodic songs that have an almost ethereal quality to them.

“Up All Night” features disembodied voices over extremely moody guitar melodies. It’s an eerie song.

There aren’t enough adjectives in Webster’s Dictionary to describe Creeper Lagoon’s distinct and free-spirited songs.

Is it their powerhouse team of

producers (the likes of which worked on albums by Blink 182, Live, and Stroke 9) that makes them so great? Probably not.

The songs are good not only because of their polished sound, but also because the group has a musical gift. It’s pleasantly unsettling to listen to – it’s that
good.