Category: Reviews

Los Campesinos! – Romance is Boring

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romance-is-boringRating: ★★½☆☆

Just looking at the blood dripping down the leg of the cover of Romance is Boring, and you can tell that there is a dark shift in the writing of Los Campesinos!. Long have they been a band of rapturous joy and sheer energy, but as we grow older, ultimately our views begin to shift.  This is a record of changing winds; it is a band looking in new directions.

On “A Heat Rash…” you can immediately tell that the band, while retaining some of their trademark sounds, has switched gears, albeit just slightly.  Musically, there is still an overall feeling of joy amidst Gareth’s lyrics, but the fervent energy seems somewhat absent here.  It seems that the urgency of the band has dissipated with the times.

Yes, you will find the traditional Los Campesinos! tracks filled with possibly too much noise for one listener; you’ll find those songs that encourage you to scream atop your lungs with the band, such as “This is a Flag. There is No Wind” or “Straight in at 101.”  These songs bring energy to the group, reminding you of the band’s original sound, but overall, such rambunctious moments are few and far between here, which may be disheartening to long-time fans of the group.

Instead, you’ll stumble across slow movers like “Coda: A Burn Scar in the Shape of the Sooner State.”  While Gareth’s vocals are coated in minor distortion, the group itself recalls a gloomier version of I’m From Barcelona.  Multiple instruments come in and out with the song fading away into walls of feedback.  This isn’t the only tune that demonstrates a more solemn side of the band. “In Media Res” messes with the song structure that the LC has often employed, using quiet moments back to back with louder constructive moments within the song.  It’s not a slow number, but it definitely doesn’t have the pace of previous efforts.

When you hit across the record’s title track, “Romance is Boring,” for some reason, the album seems kind of muddled.  It’s as if the group set out with one thing in mind, yet they were unable to deliver upon their ideas, or at least they weren’t comfortable straying too far away from their comfort zone.  It’s filled with noise, a la the usual LC stuff, but experimenting with feedback and distortion gets a bit annoying at times.  And if you ask me (which you didn’t) the gang vocals by album three are getting a little bit tiresome, as are Gareth’s lyrics.  What once seemed clever, now seems a bit banal.

For some reason, it seems as if the group just came across a bunch of old alternative records, and they decided that loud frequencies would be rewarding for their live sound, which is quite possible, though it doesn’t translate to the album.  “I Just Sighed. I Just Sighed So You Know,” the closing track, just seems like a bunch of children messing around in their garage.  And wait until you hear the metal moments on “I Warned You Do Not Make an Enemy of Me.”  Did they really put those guitars in there?

By the end of Romance is Boring, it seems that Los Campesinos! have finally warn their listeners down.  They don’t seem nearly as cohesive as they once did, which encourages a lot of the noisier moments to come across in quite an amateur fashion.  It’s loud and boisterous, but it’s too much so at times.  It seems that the band has split their personalities on this, leaving them stuck in the middle somewhere.  It makes for an uneven album, one that doesn’t do the group as much justice as you hoped it would. It’s not nearly as fun as the group CAN be, and not nearly as dark as they seem to want to be.  Expect the next album to make a decision for us and them.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/The-Sea-Is-A-Good-Place-To-Think-Of-The-Future.mp3]

Download: Los Campesinos! – The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future [MP3]

Beach House – Teen Dream

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beach-house_teen-dreamRating: ★★★½☆

I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t quite gotten on the Beach House bandwagon. In the past, their dreamy bedroom pop has just seemed far too dull for me to ever fully absorb; I’ll admit that’s a fault of my own and not the music.  Yet listening to Teen Dream, something else unfolds.  There isn’t some grand gesture that comes out of nowhere; it’s just that the logical progression of the group has finally caught up with my own personal tastes.

From the opening moments that the guitar comes into play on “Zebra” I found myself captivated immediately.  Gentle “ahhhs” in the background create a perfect introduction to the song, allowing for the vocals to carry the song the rest of the way.  Sure, it’s not the most moving song in the world, but it holds the listener with an emotional appeal, one that is only heightened by the percussion that comes in near the end of the song.

When you come upon “Norway,” it’s obvious why this would come out as the single for the record.  Electronic maneuvers bring life to the album, although it’s odd that those little flourishes seem somewhat out of tune (anyone else?).  The “ay ay aay” of the chorus is playful in the manner that it strings out the mono-syllabic moments into perfect resonant melodies.  This song is backed up by “Walk in the Park,” which seems a lot like a Papercuts track.  Programmed percussion atop those echo-y vocals builds the perfect cascading pop moment, which shows that the band, though often stuck in one place, can evoke quite a bit of emotion.

“Better Times” wears the influence, seemingly, of Chairlift, using electronic structures to build the backbone of the song wile waiting for the rest of the song’s sound to come together.  Vocals definitely carry this song, and you can tell that the focus on achieving the perfect tonality definitely aids the tune as a whole.  It’s at this point where you start to see the past and the present finally start gel, bringing the best moments out of the duo, especially when the quickened vocal delivery starts in with about two minutes remaining.

Coming into the last song, it honestly is hard to find a throwaway track.  All the songs on the album work cohesively, and finally the music seems to have shown some movement overall. “Take Care” captures all the little moments from the album, throwing them together in Teen Dream‘s final chapter.  Yet, there are some moments here that illustrate the one detractor I still have in listening to Beach House.  Near the three minute mark the percussion could easily pick up, or let loose, yet the band restrains itself.  In doing so, they lose the propensity for sending the listeners off on an ultimate high note of euphoric musical waves, instead leaving them to rest precisely where the album began.

In conclusion, Teen Dream is a really good record, one that all Beach House fans will surely fall in love with after purchase.  For  those like myself, who largely ignored the band(though I’ve seen them three times), this might be the record that forces you to go back and look a little closer at the group’s catalog.  Personally, I still find that they don’t take enough musical risks, choosing to hold back when I’d like to see them let go a little bit, but that’s just my preference.  For the rest of you, you’ll find that this record is more than just one to go to sleep with at night; it’s an album to be played at all times, which is really all you can ask for from Beach House. Move over folks, I’m ready to jump on the wagon now.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Beach-House-Norway.mp3]

Download: Beach House – Norway [MP3]

The Magnetic Fields – Realism

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fieldsRating: ★★★½☆

When The Magnetic Fields last put some tracks down on tape with Distortion, we saw the band with a wash of feedback and, well, distortion.  They return, however, with Realism, a record with cleaner production, purposefully, and one that allows the minimalist chamber pop group to open up their doors once again to the more enchanting orchestration of mastermind Stephin Merritt.

Choosing to open the album with “You Must Be Losing Your Mind” is an appropriate choice for the group, as it reflects the traditional songwriting structure that the band used to win over so man fans with 69 Love Songs. Combining the low-end vocals of Merritt with Claudia Gonson creates a sublime juxtaposition.  Musically, it also goes back a bit, which will immediately remind avid fans, and new listeners, how great the band can be when they’re at their best.

By the third song, you find the group at their most playful during “We Are Having a Hootenanny.”  Well, lyrically, its extremely playful, especially with the buzz Merritt attaches to words ending in “s” or “z.”  For some listeners, this will be the precise moment when they get lost in the joy that is the listening experience of having The Magnetic Fields on repeat. Sure, the lyrics aren’t something that will shake you to your core, but the wit used with the rhyme schemes, as well as supplying bountiful oddities, always creates a pleasurable listen.

“Walk a Lonely Road” and “I Don’t Know What to Say” are those perfect pop moments that we all appreciate in Merritt.  You find him low in the vocal range, barely above the level of the music itself, which makes you listen even more closely.  Gentle strumming of the ukulele, or one of its cousins, in these songs consistently resembles some sort of medieval folk tune, which is perhaps why they get lumped into the chamber pop group.  Still, for me, there is always something magical in those moments, as if I’m listening to something that I feel doesn’t fit into my everyday listening, yet it only makes me adore it even more. If you listen to “Seduced and Abandoned,” and do not feel yourself immediately transported back to the times of the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms then perhaps you’re not listening close enough.

Yet, the one thing that keeps this album from rising to the top of the band’s overall catalog, which in all honesty is near perfect.  There seems to be a lacking in creativity that was present early on in the album, despite having “The Dada Polka” near the record’s end. For some reason, you feel as if the earlier passion and creativity sort of ran out near the end of recording; it loses the cohesiveness of the album as a whole. Still, there is the saving grace in “From a Sinking Boat.”

It’s strange, but the end of The Magnetic Fields‘ albums always has this one brilliant moment that inevitably brings you back to falling in love with the band. Once again, you find the cello entertaining the tinkering piano, while Merritt sings, barely audible above the instrumentation.  It’s a slow mover, yet it’s a bookend to the entire album. It closes with a bright moment, just as it began.  While the moments in between may not always be the band’s best, it’s hard to find something truly wrong with any of the songs in this collection; this is just another record to enjoy time and time again, as like all MF albums, Realism sort of feels timeless.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/01-You-Must-Be-Out-Of-Your-Mind.mp3]

Download: The Magnetic Fields – You Must Be Out Of Your Mind [MP3]

Eels – End Times

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eelsRating: ★★★★☆

It seems like not too long ago that we last heard from Eels, which is correct, as Hombre Loco came out in 2009, but we find E here on this album a far different man than where we encountered him.  End Times, as the cover art suggests, shows a worn man living in isolation; he’s a man broken by love, or at least we can assume it is he, as E’s always been honest with us in his writing.

When the album opens with “In My Younger Days” you find a stripped down Everett, naked in front of his listener.  He paints a picture of the difficulties he’s encountered overcoming loneliness in old age, something he found far easier in his “younger days.”  The sparse instrumentation here is one huge difference from Hombre Loco, as you barely find a percussive element in the songwriting, except for the full-on country rocker, “Gone Man,” which aside from the lyrics, is one of the weaker songs on the record.

It’s clear throughout that E is reminiscing with us, as if he’s casually telling the story of love lost; it’s a story many listeners will soon turn to in their time of loneliness and strife.  “In the Beginning” tells of the honeymoon phase, where problems seem trivial, as you’re consumed by the romance of it all.  Unfortunately, the gruff vocals force the inevitable upon you, pushing you to see that in End Times things have clearly changed.

During “A Line in the Dirt” you find a couple at their worst moment, both afraid to be alone, yet knowing that the end will bring nothing but that very feeling.  It’s clear that neither character wants to be without the other, though they can’t find a way to make it work.  The juxtaposition with this song and “End Times” is perfect, as the story line reaches its climactic pinnacle.  The album’s title track draws the story to a close, at least the break-up itself, and there is no going back from here.

Throughout the album, you find a narrator who is putting himself on display for his audience, revealing himself during his hardest times.  It’s reminiscent of Sea Changes by Beck, where the songwriter meets with disillusionment and solitude, unwilling to accept his fate.  Yet, as the album comes to a close, we find E “On His Feet.”  He seems to have succumbed to the fact that the cyclical aspect of relationships coming and going is something we all must go through at some time or another.  While he may not have been willing to give into it easily, it seems at the end of the record, he’s accepted his faults in the destruction of his relationship, and he’s ready to be back on his feet again; he’s ready “to be alright.”

It’s hard to adequately describe the music in his album, as it comes far behind the role of the lyrical value, which is possibly one of the few faults you’ll find on End Times. The story is one that we can all relate to, which is perhaps why this seems to be an ultimately more personable record than Hombre Loco.  Let it be known that regardless of where life finds him, E knows his way around writing heartfelt tunes, and this album is chock full of them.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/EELS-Little-Bird.mp3]

Download: Eels – Little Bird [MP3]

Surfer Blood – Astrocoast

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surfer bloodRating: ★★★★½

Over the last year, people have been suggesting that Surfer Blood might be the biggest band we hadn’t come across, leaving the band in the spot for breakthrough artist of 2010.  On Astrocoast, they live up to the hype, and in most cases, they far surpass what expectations we all had, creating one of the most colorful, yet playful, debuts we’ve come across in quite some time.

One would be hard pressed to pigeonhole this band at all, as they seemingly bounce from one spot to another throughout this 10 song debut.  For this listener, it sounds as if someone is channeling a Floridian soulmate of James Mercer of Shins fame.  There is something in the pitch in songs like “Floating Vibes” or especially in “Twin Peaks.” It’s not just the delivery of the lyrics, or the way the melody is approached, but it really feels as if the spirit of Mercer lies in there somewhere. “Twin Peaks,” by the way, is one ridiculously good song; you can listen to it on repeat, as I did, and never grow tired of it.

“Swim,” the album’s second track is such a bright moment that you can’t help but be won over by the fervent approach to bringing about swelling guitar waves and vocals that seem to echo through the room of your favorite local venue.  It’s this feeling of rawness that doesn’t seem forced, or steeped in some historical infatuation with bands of days gone by, though undoubtedly it does come from such moments.

“Take It Easy” comes like a close cousin to many of the songs of New York new wonders The Drums. Both bands have a club appeal that still seems rooted in the hallowed grounds of surf rock.  Like those New Yorkers, there is a certain vibrance to the writing itself, which moves it beyond pastiche, bringing a refreshing approach.  At this point, three songs in, the band should have completely won you over.

Near the end of the record, the boys slow it town just a hint, but the jangling of their guitars brings to mind a great deal of the work that came out of the Flying Nun label of New Zealand.  Perhaps the band is unaware of this, but that’s a sure-fire way to get straight into my heart, which allows me to look beyond the fact that the two 6 minute jams at the end, “Slow Jabroni” and “Anchorage” lag a little bit as far as pace goes.  Using time, these songs unfold into powerful pieces all their own.

All in all, this a sparkling debut from a band we know little about.  It’s full of playful tunes, whimsical lyrics, and load upon load of melodic hooks driving straight for your ears, and your heart. It’s refreshing to hear such a solid album arise beyond the hype, and fulfill on all the promise, which is precisely what Astrocoast does.  Based on this, Surfer Blood surely will be the breakout band we all heard they would be, and its deservedly so.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/02-Swim.mp3]

Download: Surfer Blood – Swim [MP3]

Spoon – Transference

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SpoonCoverRating: ★★★★☆

A few years back, Spoon created a pop masterpiece when they put out Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (is that enough Gas?).  They return here with Transference, a record that may not be as easily accessible as their previous effort, but one that seemingly feels more rewarding than its predecessor.  Where Ga Ga Ga hit you in the face quick, Transference takes time to unfold before you, often upon repeated listens.

As the hazy organ work grinds over the opening moments of the album, you can tell that the tendency to rely upon hooks is gone.  Still, when you hear the audio switch from having Britt in another room, to having him right in your ear, you can tell that hooks aren’t required to reveal the power in this record.  It’s a dense tune, but it feels more like the reworking of tracks off Kill the Moonlight.

A lot of listeners will wonder where the catchy numbers have gone, as this record feels striped down and dirty by the time you get through the first three songs.  Then you come across “Who Makes Your Money.”  Initially, I couldn’t understand this song in the spectrum of the Spoon catalogue, but the more I listened to the record, the playfulness with which Britt approaches the vocals is so rewarding in time that it’s hard not to see this as one of the album’s stronger moments, which says a lot considering how simple it feels.

Oddly, the slow burner that is Transference is just picking up the pace.  “Written in Reverse” makes waves as it did upon its release as the single months back.  You combine that with the grittiness of “I Saw the Light,” and you can’t help but feel as if Spoon are finally hitting full stride midway through the album, preparing to carry you into bliss.  Such is the moment when you arrive at the brightest moments on the record, with “Terrible” and “Goodnight Laura.”

“Terrible” has the lo-fi appeal that everyone seems to crave in their musical coffee, yet it maintains the clever layering that Spoon has always held on to in their songwriting.  As the song barrels along, you can feel the classic moments of the band’s history come back into the present.  Then you stumble upon “Goodnight Laura,” which has to be my hand’s down favorite song on the album.  It reminds me of “Black Like Me” of Ga Ga Ga in its ability to evoke the utmost emotion from the listener, except it utilizes a piano as opposed to the use of guitar. Yet the hits don’t stop coming right here.

Transference fades into its closing moments filled with tunes like “Got Nuffin,” a song you already should have heard by the group, and “Nobody Gets Me But You.”  Neither of these songs feels completely polished, unlike the last album, so it maintains the quality that was established at the beginning. It has that sense of trial and error, though they clearly care less about the errors, choosing to leave them as part of the complete portrait they intended to create.

In closing, a lot of people just don’t get Spoon. They’ll claim that the band lack some sort of killer instinct, or that they chose to produced the album themselves, but let’s not forget they have Jim Eno and Britt Daniels, both who have produced records of brilliance in their own right (White Rabbits anyone?).  At the end of the day, the more you listen to this album the more you will get out of it, as it unravels bit by bit, leaving you with such a wonderful record that you’ll have to look hard to find faults.  It reaffirms that Spoon is one of (if not the only) the most consistent bands around, and Transference just adds to their list of quality records.

Owen Pallett – Heartland

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pallettRating: ★★★☆☆

It seems that Owen Pallett has finally shed his video game moniker, suggesting to some that this album would show a wee bit of maturation for the orchestral singer/songwriter.  Now that we have the name cleared, let’s rest assured that Heartland is not an album about growing up, as it’s clear that Owen still holds true to a great deal of the playfulness he’s presented us with in the past, which makes him so endearing.

In the past, we’ve found Owen balancing minimal instrumentation atop his clever sequencing of violin loops.  Such stylistic flourishes brought great moments such as the trumpet blast on “This is the Dream of Win and Regine.”  Now, while he hasn’t abandoned the symphonic approach, not at all, he seems to be playing with more instrumentation.  Take “Lewis Takes Off His Shirt,” for example; a song which features orchestral backing, yet the strings sing to hang lightly in the background, allowing Owen’s voice, along with electric beats to push the song forward. “The Great Elsewhere” is similar in that it provides an electric organ as its background, reminiscent of some great work by DJ Shadow, just with Pallett’s voice cresting on the wave.

It says a lot for the artist when their voice can carry the entirety of a song, and such is Owen’s vocal skill.  “Keep the Dog Quiet,” which seems like a brooding scene in Fantasia, is wholly held up by his vocal performance.  He plays with his vocal range, not always trying to rise to the highest octave, an act which seems to bring a more complete balance to song itself.  But, in the end, in the last minute of the song, you can tell that Owen clearly has the chops to cut it in the music business outside of the muddied waters of independent music.

Still, for those die hard fans who loves the string arrangements as presented during the Final Fantasy years, rest assured you will find what you seek.  The opening track, “Midnight Directives,” picks up where the last album left off, reminding of us of where Pallett once was in his career.  Yet, you might find a further maturation in the classical sound he’s created when you get to “E is for Estranged.”  Gentle piano work accompanied by strings makes this one of the most beautiful moments on the album, not to mention one of the more special moments in Owen’s career.

Some might find it hard to dive right into the sound of Owen Pallett on Heartland, yet it’s a taste that takes time to fully absorb into your musical soul.  At a time when we’re enthralled with lo-fi and ambient electronic tunes, Mr. Pallett brings a refreshing touch to the musical world.  If you grew up playing an instrument, especially the band nerd types, this album is for you. His touches of classical music alongside pop music provide listeners with a certain sense of cleansing, one that we should all cherish as we begin a new year.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/05-Lewis-Takes-Action.mp3]

Download: Owen Pallett – Lewis Takes Action [MP3]

Vampire Weekend – Contra

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vampire-weekend-contraRating: ★★☆☆☆

Everyone began salivating when news of a new Vampire Weekend hit the streets, but as the leaks of the singles came, people began to feel a bit uneasy as we neared the release of Contra.  Sadly, the feelings of unease have not been quelled, as this record, despite wanting to be great, is nothing more than a mediocre rendition of the last.

Opening with “Horchata” seems logical, as you take one of the catchier numbers (and yes, it IS one of the catchiest) from the album, and put it up front.  It makes complete sense, but it sets up the rest of the album for a bit of a lackluster performance.  You get a lot of the same tinkering in this song too with non-traditional percussive elements–a sign that this album isn’t progressing too far.

So you find yourself sort of immersed emotionally in this album, and you hit upon “Holiday.” It replicates some of the energy that we discovered with “A-Punk,” yet not enough that one could really call it a standout track, like you could with the aformentioned “A-Punk.”  Ezra’s voice at this point does seem really solid–in case you’re looking for positives.

Then you breeze through the rest of the album, fast-forwarding til you hit the slow-mover that is “Taxi Cab.”  It’s really difficult to move beyond the banality that is this song; it’s the most bland piece of music I’ve come across in the last few months.  It sounds like they wanted to create a touch of Enlightenment piano work atop their summery pop.  But, a few repeat listens of this song will open your eyes to the strongest moments on the album, this song leading into that moment.

And you finally arrive at the one-two punch that is “Run” and “Cousins.”  Okay, so the beat on “Run” sounds too familiar to early Vampire Weekend efforts, but Ezra’s voice sounds much more influential at this point, coming off as one of his stronger vocal performances on the record. The brother song, “Cousins” is probably most reminiscent of the high-octane fun that you found in “A-Punk.”  It’s hard to get beyond the yelping, but if you can put that aside, you’ll find Contra‘s strongest moments yet.  It’s catchy, and yet not too stylistically repetitive.

But, as the album winds out, everything is lost.  You’ll find some beats that will surely propel the band to SPIN glory, but you won’t really find too many other moments in the remaining songs that you’ll want to put on over and over again.  “Diplomat’s Son” finds Ezra trying his best to sing a nice little Hawaiian ballad a la Iz, but it’s not enough to sustain listeners.  Seriously bro, stop singing, and get to rocking. That all leads to the band’s misstep on the record.

Listening to Contra repeated times is sure to wear listeners down.  The redundancy in the sonic appeal gradually fades as you go from song to song, and what once seemed interesting, just isn’t.  Listeners, despite their best intentions, will surely come to the realization that whilst they wanted the best for Vampire Weekend, their needs just weren’t fulfilled.  You’ll be left wondering why you spent your money on a record that you can easily forget the moment its over.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/01-Horchata-1.mp3]

Download: Vampire Weekend – Horchata [MP3]

The Crayon Fields – All The Pleasures of the World

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thumb_crayonRating: ★★★★½

In a year that offered lots of mediocre albums, 2009 had so many new records that it was hard to digest them all in due time for reviews.  Yet, I always intended to touch on this album, as I’ve loved The Crayon Fields since Animal Bells came out a few years back. 

“Mirrorball” made the list of our Top 50 songs of 2009, and it still draws a lot of power, months after it first hit our ears.  Singer Geoff O’ Connor has a real breathy vocal projection (like a pop whisperer), one that will recall Colin Bluntstone of The Zombies for many listeners…it’s just one of the many touchstones for the group.

One thing that differentiates the characterstics on All the Pleasures of the World from Animal Bells is that there seems to be a little bit of darkness lingering beneath each of the songs.  On Animal Bells, you had songs like “Living So Well,” which were full of sunny beach pop and gang vocal effects, but this doesn’t fit here.  On the album’s title track, amidst singing of pleasures, O’ Connor seems sort of resigned to see the pleasures, though not necessarily take part in them.  Perhaps the extra layering of instruments has made a more dense soundscape from which the band took off this round (some of the best being from the solid bass work). Just a guess.

When one comes across songs like “Celebrate” you can see how a Clientele reference might creep up in a review, but you might also note that the similarites are existant, yet polarizing.  Where The Clientele often feels extremely cold, and their melodies have a sense of brooding danger, The Crayon Fields put a little bit of energy into their artistry.  By this I really mean one thing: The Clientele gives you foggy melodies; The Crayon Fields blow the fog away with a touch of beach-side sunshine. 

You’ll also find a lot of the guitar-work of Glaswegians Belle and Sebastian lying beneath this album.  You can almost pick up on the homage being given in songs such as “Disappear” where there is a hint of swing and sway to the general atmospheric creation.  It’s not a bad thing to highlight, as I’m a fan of the former band, which also probably shows why I’m a huge fan of the latter.  Really, is there any ground for originality nowadays?

So, here I am, a few months after the release, though you will still find it hard to get a hold of All the Pleasures of the World in the U.S.  Be that as it may, you’ll do yourself, and the dollar, justice if you go out to your local hotspot and purchase the latest from The Crayon Fields, and the last one while you’re at it.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/crayon-fields-mirror-ball-7_-version.mp3]

Download: The Crayon Fields – Mirror Ball [MP3]

Pants Yell! – Received Pronunciation

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pantsyell-received

Rating: ★★★★☆

Amidst the world of lo-fi stands one Slumberland Records band who is willing to go against the grain.   Ladies and gentleman we present to you, Pants Yell!. Well, we don’t actually present them to you, as Received Pronunciation is the group’s third proper release.  Still, after being all over the SR catalogue this year, and I assure you, we’re still into it, we now have a new record to fall in love with as the year draws to an end.

You see, when opening track “Frank and Sandy” comes through your speaker, you’re not sure what you were expecting, but you most assuredly weren’t awaiting the haphazard delivery of the lyrics, let alone the song itself.  It just seems to sort of traipse along, ever really reaching any sort of climax.  Such restraint, however, is actually refreshing.

You can find much clarity and precision on every single song that plays through this album.  If you added heavy string arrangements, and perhaps a few more witticisms you might call this a Belle and Sebastian record.  Still, that is lazy journalism, but if I told you that they sound like a much more confident Oh No! Oh My! you would probably be a little confused.  More so, there is a particular youthfulness in this that B&S have moved beyond, perhaps even a little naivete, but such innocence, especially in the banality of the lyrics really makes the listening experience one of the most enjoyable of the last several months.  Take the humorous “Spider,” which seems like an elementary student channeling Calvin Johnson.

This album just continually seems to give back to the listener, each song seemingly a touch different then the last, while consistently staying in the same place.  Take “Someone Loves You” versus “Not Wrong,” two songs that have similarity in song structure, but the hurried percussion in the former picks up the tempo, creating a song that sounds nothing like the tune that will follow two tracks later.  And as the album draws near to an end, it all seems so familiar.  Perhaps those who fell in love with Jeremy Jay will find that they can take his promise and craft, hand it over to a set of vibrant like-minded youths, and it will come out like Received Pronunciation.

Everyone is sure to grab ahold of this band, as they are clearly ready to step into a light of their own.  Three albums into their career, and it seems that the group can’t go too wrong.  Let’s cross our fingers that Pants Yell! continue to build upon the talent and joy displayed in their latest effort, Received Pronunciation.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/06-Someone-Loves-You.mp3]

Download: Pants Yell! – Someone Loves You [MP3]

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