The Makes Nice, purveyor of the smartest and crispest contemporary pop music, releases its second long-play record of the year with This Time Tomorrow. Upon receiving the surprising news the band had already penned another record following the March release of its auspicious debut, Candy Wrapper and 12 Other Songs, I was understandably skeptical. Candy Wrapper was my favorite record of 2007 and songs like that don’t grow on trees. How could the band even come close to matching the brilliance of its first record with virtually no turnaround? Amazingly, the band somehow upstages its debut with a record teeming with glorious, harmony-laden pop songs. Aaron Burnham’s vocals have improved dramatically and they were already evocative. Josh Smith’s guitar playing is customarily astounding and Jack Matthew’s thunderous drumming propels the whole damn thing. Bolstered by Do It Again, the catchiest single of recent memory, the album plays like a greatest hits record. Melody, Please, You Want Me Bad, Don’t You Understand, and the aforementioned Do It Again, are songs that would have been 1960’s radio mainstays and deserve to be hits today. Did these guys sell their souls to invent hooks like these? Even less accessible songs like Got It Wrong From The Start and When It’s All Gone are tunes that would serve as high-water marks in lesser bands’ catalogues. As with Candy Wrapper, the band achieves a nearly perfect balance between musicianship and song craftsmanship. Despite its embarrassment of musical riches, the band never shows off; every sound is fashioned to serve the song. All this adds up to The Makes Nice’s authoring of the two best records of 2007. The boys kick off their East Coast tour in early October (their New York appearances are on October 10^th and 12^th). So uncross your arms, strap on your dancing shoes, and abandon playoff baseball for at least one night.