Alright, so after the week hiatus, and the emotionally scarring Vikings loss I'm back and ready to turn the page. There will be some serious baseball talk coming up in the next few weeks, but until then I'm going to introduce a new weekly feature that I'll be incorporating into the blog. Once per week I'll be recommending an album for your listening pleasure. Its pretty clear where my musical tastes lie by now (see here, here, here, and here) so if you're not a fan I apologize, but maybe you'll still find something you like--anyway so here we go.
The first ever weekly album recommendation goes to:
This Welsh band's third full album and first since they released both Hold on Now, Youngster... and We are Beautiful, We are Doomed in 2008. They've always tended more towards the power-pop genre (think New Pornographers or Vampire Weekend but with more hand claps), and this album is no different. Though that's not to say that the albums are all so similar that they sound identical (see Red Hot Chili Peppers for an example of this)--quite the contrary in fact. In each of their three albums now you can hear a sense of the band becoming more confident in their musical abilities and their exploration of their style. Each of the albums are slightly more tight than the previous, which if continued they'll start to sound like a Brian Eno produced album but hopefully they'll realize that before they sound too produced.
The stories in their songs are very memorable, but they're not told in the matter-of-fact manner of many other "indie" bands, but rather they weave their imagery using funny one-liners and whimsical lyrics. Its fairly uncommon anymore for a band to have such a strong discography after three albums, especially given the size of their Arts & Crafts label. This is an album that I've listened to four times already in the past week and a half and doesn't have any tracks that stick out as "skippable". This album flows very well and I have a feeling you'll be on board after the first listening; I know I was hooked immediately. A fantastic effort by a "small label" band, in what I consider their best and most complete album. This is going to have some serious play by me this year and I've got a feeling its going to be near the top (or maybe even at the top) of multiple lists by year's end.
Rating: 9.5/10
Sweet album review dude, I'm looking forward to listening to it!
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