A hard-rocking and soulful Mary's Danish album
From their first album, Mary's Danish's music was playful and poppy at times but always with an alternative edginess and tendency to break into raucous rocking. American Standard moves away from the quirky eccentricity of MD's earlier albums in favor of more soulful blues and hard-hitting rock. At times it plays like a concept album, with seamless transitions from smooth and mellow paeans to jarring and abrasive grinds.
Though not consistent from start to finish, this is an album that has many gems, all delivered with a high level of polish and panache. If you don't expect it to sound like a logical follow up to Circa or There Goes the Wondertruck, you will find it a musically-mature final album from a group that made some good music during their few years as a band.
