Sean Bones sounds like a guy who had no experience with reggae music at all until his mind was blown by hearing “Pressure Drop” for the first time and refuses to come back from that world. The good thing about Bones’ forthcoming album Rings, though, is that this is the whole point of it. The naivete of Bones’ fairly sparse songwriting works in the favor of the album.

The idea of putting reggae rhythms against indie guitar overtones is certainly not a very original idea (or a very welcome one, in some cases; dozens of groups have failed miserably at it), but Bones keeps the album buoyed with his slack vocals and unashamedly remedial guitar stabs.

Admittedly, the guitar technique on the album may put off some people, and it could be easily argued that once you’ve heard one song from the album, you’ve heard them all – the gently skittering three-chords that run through the songs can indeed get tiresome. And it would’ve been nice to see Bones implement some more eclectic instruments on more tracks.

But there’s plenty of good stuff, too. On my personal favorite, “Coco,” Bones and his relaxed backing band manage to turn a pretty standard chord progression into something intoxicating, with lovely sighing vocal harmonies and some melodic call-and-response guitar lines…all while Bones himself happily vocalizes lyrics like “You’d have me walking the wooden plank/With a teenage heart today.”

The lyrics, while basically disingenuous gibberish, are ironically one of the best things about the album, with catchy phrases delivered gently, getting caught in your head for long afterward. The start-and-stop-on-a-dime playing of the backing band is another asset, making songs like “Smoke Rings” carry their insistent beats well.

Your appreciation for Rings will depend on your ability to loosen up (like the band) and go with the flow, ignoring things like variation and compositional arc. Some artists are simply not meant to be listened to for such things, and criticizing a record for not offering up any of these things (variation, for instance)…well, it’s like listening to ABBA for lyrics – you’re missing the point. Everyone else can just dance to it; they’ll know no guilt.

For more Sean Bones,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/seanbones