Just Jeffrey
Coffee, Tea & Me (La Ti Da Records)
Jeffrey McCloy is an anachronism. The former New Town Animals and current Tranzmitors frontman clearly belongs in another time and another place; specifically, 1960s England.
McCloy has long worn his anglophile leanings on his sleeve – if not his lapel – and on Coffee, Tea & Me we see him striking out on his own, putting on the Brit with gleeful abandon.
From the early Who and Kinks to the Jam and the Vapors, the musical influences aren’t hard to pick out. This is a mod revival, and a campy, tongue-in-cheek one at that. There’s songs about football, drinking tea (like, every other song), and evil widows who live at the end of the lane. It’s all silly, nostalgic fun, and McCloy absolutely nails it, thanks in no small part to his own self-awareness. “I look out of place but I feel no disgrace,” he confesses on the album’s closer, “English Way Of Life”.
Unlike previous projects that saw a full band backing him up at all times, on Coffee, Tea & Me the focus is largely on McCloy’s vocals. On songs like “Cellular Devices” or “Believe What You Must”, the sparse arrangements allow his hilariously affected yet oddly charming voice to take centre stage. When he does bust out the full band on numbers like “Kids These Days” and “World Made For Me,” no one is stepping on McCloy’s toes; the drums are tastefully understated and the keys give him plenty of space to breathe. These are pop songs after all, complete with the requisite harmonies and key changes, and damn if they aren’t catchy.
