Quickies

Merritt’s ability to blend comedy and heartache through finely observed character studies is one of his greatest strengths, and that skill in fine form throughout Quickies.

Highly entertaining, though best consumed a few songs at a time, Quickies is more than a novelty record, though certainly novel.

A torrid tumble of greatness, it's like The Beatles' White Album in a hurry.

This is a record unanchored by the lofty expectations of previous releases. It’s a series of notes and remembrances, fond and mournful and often whimsical in nature, which provides ample evidence that the band still hasn’t fully excavated all the mysterious beauty that pop music has to offer.

The sharp wit of veteran songwriter Stephin Merritt thrives in brevity across a collection of short songs that range from 12 seconds to an epic two-and-a-half minutes.

Stephen Merritt and his many collaborators have made a wildly varied and highly entertaining album that reads like a book of poetry and plays like a soundtrack to a particularly fun (barely remembered) summer.

At any length, instrumentation or investigating whatever ridiculous subject matter, he somehow manages to be effortlessly charming, funny, odd, and above all, catchy.

The album does lean on the frivolous side, both in terms of song themes and presentation, but if Merritt has taught us anything is to never take at face value.

Quickies is an issue of MAD Magazine in musical form. It’s a ton of fun, and absolutely a welcome relief to the situation we’re going right now.

It is occasionally brilliant, often satisfying and sometimes wince-inducing, a patchwork offering of Merritt's lyrical modalities offered under a title that suggests it's all an afterthought.

The very nature of the Magnetic Fields’ latest, rooted as it is in economy and concision, heightens the staying power of Merritt’s approach.

It’s fun hearing Merritt wring gems out of a song about sex in a bathroom or dating Jesus, even if the use-by date on some of these quickies is short.

Not his most satisfying concept, but he can do more in 72 seconds ("Favorite Bar") than most artists can in four minutes.

The quality may be a tad uneven, but in these frazzled times, Stephin Merritt's musical capsules will surely hit the spot for many indie fans.