Rating: 
Back in 2012, Literature should have made your radar with Arab Spring, their debut LP that ATH Records helped put out. If somehow you managed to miss that gem of a first record, not to worry, the four gents are back to give you another opportunity to fall in love with their jangly guitar centric rock music. One listen and you’ll be devoid of excuses not to be smitten with Chorus and this band.
At the risk of sounding cheesy, I’m going to liken this album to those instances in your life, or in the movies when everything around slows for a second in a moment of golden enlightenment. For the twenty-nine minutes that Chorus lasts you are swept away in a fury of glittering and shimmering tunes. Each song has a pearlescent quality to it—the guitar licks ripple and glide with each other in endless loops while the percussion is like the foam on the edge of the waves of synth as they crash in. The album on a whole has the golden vibe, but there are also some extra special standouts that will have you instantly wanting to replay them over again.
A few of these songs that have got me especially hooked are back-to-back middle of the album stunners “Court/Date” and “New Jacket.” The first of these two songs starts with an infectious guitar riff that peels right through the center stage, then you have Nathan Cardaci’s voice that comes in deep and rich, but gets pushed to its peak as his voice weaves in and out of the instrumentation. The drums never stop, constantly simmering and then breaking into this epic deep rolling builds during the choral hook. Before you know it you’re on to “New Jacket,” which is less power from the start and more of a tune that builds at its end. There are still the glitter guitars from the start and Cardaci’s breathy hazed vocals, but the guitars feel passive until the song grows and grows to the last minute of the track. Really, I had a hard time critiquing and describing these two tracks as they are so infectious that I would start to play them and have the phenomenon of getting lost jamming.
Thirty minutes comes and goes, but like the movie montages, it’s somehow the apt amount of time for everything to happen; Literature don’t overstay their golden moment. Despite the vast majority of the tracks bordering on spastically fast, the speed of this record works perfectly with the music they have created. Yes, the record is brief, catchy and straightforward, but frankly I feel like the music scene these days could use more records like this to get lost in.
We’re really excited to be part of the first ATX Popfest, trying to encourage love and adoration for our favorite local pop bands. The event features 10 of the best pop bands in Austin, and it’ll be going from 7 – Close over at Cheer Up Charlies. I figured the whole world might not be aware of our scene, so why not create a little playlist to get you hip to what we’ll be throwing down on Saturday. Two notes, Polio Club have been battling Soundcloud, and have chosen instead to only stream their music via Tidal, so you can buy their excellent tape HERE. Also, Literature is not officially playing, but members past and present will be playing in Tres Oui, and we’re hoping Nate will DJ late into the evening…playing indiepop hits.
