Happy Days is a short and somewhat schizophrenic listen. Scott, who plays all the instruments involved, sports three basic modes here. There’s the sorta funky/discofied rockers – “Gotta Go”, “Dirty Knees”, and “How Soon” – that have something of a low-rent INXS-kinda vibe; there are the more straightforward singer/songwriter/acoustic guitar numbers, like “Flock Of Seagulls”, “Summer Rain”, “Celia’s Ghost”, and “Mareel”; and the cut-up collage-type thing that the kids all go crazy for, as on “Airstream” and “Remember VIBGYOR!”. And then there are the cuts that don’t really fit any of those categories – the Eastern European-style garage rock of “Golf” and the goofy, kid-friendly “Underpants” (“I love my underpants, underpants / the pants that go under my overpants / not too big, not too small / just the size of Montreal / take a little lesson from a guy who oughtta know / you shouldn’t ever let your underpants show”).

This scattershot approach works, for the most part, but I think he’d be better served by narrowing it down to one or two styles, rather than the five or six on display here. Instrumentation leans toward the skeletal (what sounds like the cheapest keyboard in captivity, some acoustic and electric guitars where appropriate, and drum machine), but it’s always enough to put the idea across. As does Scott’s voice, a warm-toned if somewhat average instrument that he puts to good use. There’s nothing showy here, vocal-wise, but neither is there anything that doesn’t suit the song. “Flock Of Seagulls” (which has nothing to do with the band of the same name, by the way) is probably the standout cut, a campfire on the beach singalong with himself.

Aside from the more earnest “Mareel” and “Celia’s Ghost” and the over-long, one-joke “Remember VIBGYOR!” (which is somewhat redeemed, as is “Airstream”, by the presence of samples from Firesign Theater – steal from the best, baby) the album perks right along. And it’s all very charmingly low-budget, as well as being all fun. That last point is key. Scott has a sense of humor about himself – check out the disc of b-sides that comes with the CD if you don’t believe me – and that’s quality that’s in short supply these days.

Take, for example, The Elected. Please. Blake Sennett, the lyrics and music dude behind Rilo Kiley, has “coincidentally” released a solo album at the same time Jenny Lewis, the RK singer, released hers. Now, the folks at Sub Pop have been really good to us here at #1HS, and I’m always reluctant to bash someone’s work. But I gots to call ‘em the way I sees ‘em. And I call this one “tedious”. The disc only runs 47:50, but it seemed like an eternity. A dud is a dud is a dud.

So what happened? After all, Rilo Kiley is pretty OK, although I haven’t actually heard that whole album. Well, for one thing, there’s the vocals. Blake Sennet’s voice sounds like what you’d expect to issue from an animated cartoon hamster. It’s really sort of a plaintive keening sound, and not one I’m keen to hear again.

Than there’s the music. The Fruit Bats are plowing a similar furrow, but they’re much more fun to listen to. Sun, Sun, Sun is, for the most part, well-executed, yet dull, pop-rock Americana, stuck in the same mid-tempo groove (as in a rut, not something to inspire ass-shaking). A couple of tunes reach for anthemic status; “Not Going Home” comes the closest, yet still falls short of the mark. Others, like the cringe-inducing “Did Me Good”, are just embarrassing attempts at soul music, blue-eyed or otherwise.

So I dunno. If Bright Eyes appeals to you, you might get something out of Sun, Sun, Sun. I can’t really recommend it, though. Seek out Happy Days instead. Scott's bargain-basement solo pop beats Sennett's full-band bland-fest hands down.

Victor Scott’s Happy Days is available through SVC Records; The Elected’s Sun, Sun, Sun is available through Sub Pop Records.