Rob’s Album Of The Week: Gray Bouchard & The Dedications’ Love In The New World

Gray Bouchard has found a new sound. The Boston musician made a shift from the energetic garage rock of Salem Wolves to a mix of power pop and new wave with his backing band The Dedications. There’s a chrome texture that comes from the melding of electronic elements and sonic chords. His second full-length album, Love In The New World, that came out on February 21 via MegaHex Records is the embodiment of this approach. It’s the kind of record that brings something different to the senses as each song gets played.

One constant between Bouchard’s two projects is his heart-on-sleeve vocal delivery. He’s willing to pull his heart out of his chest and throw it on canvas in order to get across what he’s feeling. It’s a genuine quality that seems to be lost in a lot of musical styles these days. Rounding out the record is Erik Von Geldern, who is a human Swiss Army knife through his talents on guitar, bass and keys. Don Schweihofer anchors the beats on drums while Steven Audy adds to the emphasis on his own six string.

There are few things worse in music than a record where everything sounds the same. It has the same chords, the same style of production and the same overall sound. It’s dull and boring with the listener wondering where the joy from it is. Thankfully, Bouchard’s new album is…