Donna Allen’s second song diary is just a shade softer and more florid than her other project Chronophage, an outfit that already fell towards the more lyrical end of the post-punk spectrum in the vicinity of Blue Orchid and Microdisney.
Recorded with clarity but without much fuss, these songs frame strong melodies with jangling guitar. Their forthright, unvarnished sincerity might link them to the lo-fi movement, but there’s not much fuzz in the tone.
Chronophage split the difference between baroque pop and slashing, banging rock and roll, but solo Allen tends more towards the former. “Nightmare of your Dawning,” picks radiant patterns on acoustic guitar and spins out an ear-wormy sing-along chorus, all sunshine in the music.