Mobile Safari

Mobile Safari was the first full album by The Pastels after they reconvened as the core trio of Stephen Pastel, Aggi (Annabel Wright) and Katrina Mitchell. If there’s some sense of hard-won lessons here, The Pastels aren’t making a big deal of it; instead, their music is newly ambitious and enthusiastic, as though they’ve found a greater sense of purpose. The chiming guitars of “Yoga” recall Modern Lovers and Stereolab, while “Worlds Of Possibility” is pure Orange Juice pop — they’ve got a good sense of their history, but on Mobile Safari, The Pastels’ independent spirit is fully tuned to the now.