Galaxie 500: The greatest one-trick pony ever?

I've been listening to a lot of Galaxie 500 lately, and as much as I love them, they are a band that are so easy to tear apart for so many reasons. Their songs consist of the same basic chords, arranged in predictable patterns, and crudely strummed, and aside from the occasional neat solo, the musicianship of the band never rose above workmanlike. Most of the songs are played at the same sedate tempo. Singer/guitarist Dean Wareham couldn't really sing, and always seemed to play with the same guitar tone. So aside from being early protaganists of what's become known as dream-pop (which, with the likes of Beach House, Atlas Sound, Sunny Day In Glasgow et al. is going very strong, thank you very much), why is it so easy to overlook the band's shortcomings?

Perhaps it's because the band had the good grace to call it quits before it became they ran their trademark sound into the ground. Galaxie 500 released just three LPs, and perhaps they realised that they had peaked with second album On Fire. For this reason alone, AC/DC are exempt from the title of "Greatest One-Trick Pony",

Maybe it's because everything about Galaxie 500's sound is so endearing and likeable. The guitars glow with warmth on the verses and the choruses, whilstthe solos have just enough squall and bite to be truly satisfying. The tempos are leisurely and inviting. Wareham may not have been in possession of the finest voice, but still had the ability to make you swoon with a well-placed "aaaaaah".

Or maybe it's because closer inspection of their seemingly indistinguishable song collection reveals songs that are nevertheless individually memorable, thanks to some subtle but crucial sonic detail: a forlorn sax (Decomposing Trees, arguably their finest moment); vocals bathed in delicious echo (Tugboat); a vocal turn from bassist Naomi Yang (Listen, The Snow Is Falling, one of a number of terrific cover versions the band recorded), or just an endearingly daft lyric about eating twinkies (Strange). These are small touches, but in all cases define their respective songs.

Whatever the reason, Galaxie 500 got a lot of mileage out of one formula, and are rightly loved for it. And if you missed them first time around, now's the time to invest your time and money; all three albums have been re-issued as 2-CD deluxe editions by Domino.