I’m itching for new Menomena stuff so much that I’ve started googling around randomly to see what all the guys have been up to. After realizing that I’d dropped the ball on Brent Knopf’s solo project, Ramona Falls, I found out that I was also unaware that he’d produced this South African group called Dear Reader.

MP3: Dear Reader – Way Of The World
Now, I figured since I heard the group referred to with their geographical location several times, that Dear Reader would have a strong afro beat influence. That’s based on nothing really, but it’s what I expected when I hit play. Turns out these guys sound super Americanized — not that that’s a bad thing. But this is more like what I’d expect Chris Funk of the Decemberists producing Lavender Diamond to sound like, rather than a Menomena member hitting the controls for an African group. Still, the majority of the album is pretty rad.

Dear Reader on Myspace