Single of the Week: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "Only In My Dreams"

Unpredictability is one of the biggest strengths any entertainer can have, but in Ariel Pink's case you'd have thought he'd exhausted every sound and style from the sixties to the eighties, as his breakthrough album Before Today seemed to suggest. "Only In My Dreams" is not only  proof that he and the Haunted Graffiti have plenty more surprises in store, but that they dare to go one further. The track resembles a sunny, shimmery fold-pop ballad which owes a lot to Ariel's California residency (and Frank Zappa's We're Only In It For The Money). It shouldn't work but it does, as is often the case with this group, though the familiarity of Ariel's vocals and washy production take something to bring up to the rest of his current material. His knowledge and musical vision ensure another certified classic, that extends far beyond the
                                                        trappings of patische.