In today's do-it-yourself world, talent has another path to the big time. But that depends on us indie music lovers to share a good thing with one another.

Today's good thing: The 11 songs on 100 Year Picnic's new album "Tales of a Modern Splash." The songs are listed as chapters, which makes sense since the title tales listen as an associated collection of short stories about facing life and otherwise living as responsible adults in a busy, work-a-day world. But there's no rush. The reflective songs leisurely unspool over a variety of catchy rock music, each a completely realized story.

"Tales of a Modern Splash" is slower and more diverse than the band's first full-length album, 2004's "As Tall As The Sky." The freshman album featured more guitar-driven songs like "Marilyn County" and "Mary Faye Tucker" (both of which are popular with the online music blogging crowd).

The influences of this very independent central Illinois band -- they hail from the corporate/college twin cities of Bloomington-Normal on the other edge of our great empty flat middle -- come through loud and clear: Lennon and McCartney harmonies on one tale, Pink Floyd grooves on another, country-tilt Eagles on the next. You'll hear others.

But don't fear, the songs aren't dated. This isn't your older brother's dinosaur rock. They've just turned in a more mature direction from their more rock-centric last album.

"Tales of a Modern Splash" is an eclectic mix of alt-pop songs about the journey from post-college adulthood into early middle age family life. Maybe that's just the 40-something, father-of-teens in me talking, but these are pop songs I can identify with, and that's refreshing in a world with a never-ending string of one-name sound-alike pop star girlz.

Like super heroes with secret identities, the two guys behind 100 Year Picnic are in fact Jeff Greeneberg and Edwin Pierce: self-described dads, husbands and next door neighbors with a basement full of instruments and enough tech skills to run their own recording studio and website. Pierce plays guitar and Greeneberg seems to play everything else. A large collection of friends -- according to the liner notes -- helps them out.

I like to imagine these are the kinds of guys who married their high school sweethearts, hang out with their kids, drink a few beers after work and at sundown, come in off the back deck and retire to the basement to write hook-laden pop songs with their talented friends.

Over the past year, they've emerged with a classic two sided album. The first half -- I'd be dating myself to call it the A side -- might be about the hard parts of complicated romances and communication problems of long-term relationships. Beatles-esque harmonies are featured on "I Don't Know What To Tell You." Rich violins, thrum-thrum strings and wailing guitars highlight "Looks Are For Free." Both songs are about communication challenges of love/marriage, grown-up topics for sure, but 100 Year Picnic addresses it with the right touch. My favorite on the first half is "Make Things Right," an anthem to hope and a teaser of what's to come on the B side.

The second half is jammed with happy, sincere songs about enjoying the moments of each day, of not letting a single night pass you by, of remembering to stop your friends on the street to tell them you care. Other tales are about meeting again after many years or the happy enthusiasm of being with your girl on a road trip to the snow white beaches of the Gulf Coast. Pal Jennifer Rush surprises with a backing vocal on "Everything's Perfect." Meanwhile, "Isolation" stands out with its slide guitar, stand-up bass and country pace a lyrical lament from A Girl to Her Guy, sweet harmonies and the need for two to make one wrong thing right.

My favorite song on the album might be "Come On." The first 120 seconds are slow and easy with a hooky acoustic guitar riff, Greeneberg telling us in song to enjoy each moment. Then the song ramps up to a chorus of multiple Greeneberg voices, tambourines and guest Kurt Hoffman's gorgeous cello echoing the harmonies. It's hard not to sing-along in the car.

The one song that feels out of place on the album is the fascinating, dense "Greener Than The Trees," the last tale in the collection. It features classic 100 Year Picnic harmonies on the chorus, ticking time bomb percussion, electronica and what sounds like radio frequency samples. Don't get me wrong: the song works. It's mysterious, moody and for me, slightly impenetrable. These are all good things. It sounds like a song you could play backward to decode a secret message. I've heard it 20 times and am still trying to understand it. But it might be out of place on this album. Last time I looked it was still available as a free Earth Day download on their website. Check it out and decide for yourself; post a comment to let me know what you think.

If their first album reminded me of a cornfield-based Fountains of Wayne, this wide-ranging new album sounds a little like a lot of all our favorite music but it reminds me of nobody except themselves. 100 Year Picnic has a grown-up pop sound all their own.

Edge Says: Pop music for grown-ups.

Official site: http://www.100yearpicnic.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/100yearpicnic

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