Schooner

If Reid Johnson was a chef, he’d totally rule at those cook-off shows. Johnson’s long proved that he can—and will—seamlessly incorporate myriad ingredients from the pop music spectrum into Schooner’s masterful, graceful grip. Qualify that with indie if you’d like—after all, Schooner’s recordings tend to have a slight lo-fi quality—but you’d be severely underestimating Johnson’s scope, where psychedelic keys shade syrupy doo-wop harmonies, country stammers make room for subtle Latin flavors, and ukulele strums give way to shards of electrified rock ’n’ roll.  

Conceived in 2003 as a guise for Johnson’s solo home recordings; ever since, he’s been carefully crafting pop tunes that seem to grow more brilliant with each release. Long supported by a rotating cast of friends, family and Pox World Empire associates, Schooner’s current line-up includes seasoned local hands Maria Albani (Organos, Pleasant, Un Deux Trois) on bass, Chris Badger (Hotel Lights) on keys and Billy Alphin (The Rosebuds, Ashley Stove, Nathan Oliver) on drums. The arrangements are smart and full of surprises—prone to a sudden curve as often as a gradual shift—but the focus is firmly on Johnson’s songwriting. Both catchy and exacting, Johnson packs hooks within detailed narratives.

Schooner’s latest—an EP titled Duck Kee Sessions—came some three years after its last release. It cracked the CMJ Top 100 with minimal promotion. Here, the EP format is a mixed blessing, satisfying a bit of the hunger for new material while heightening anticipation for even more. One thing’s for certain:  You never know what Johnson will pull next for Schooner’s pop goulash, but you can bet it will hit the spot. —Spencer Griffith