Passion Pit: Manners
It’s like you froze the Beach Boys in 1965 and thawed them in 2009. They discovered synthesizers and digital effects, Interpol and Grizzly Bear. Then you turned them loose in a well-equipped studio. From there they unleashed their falsetto harmonies on the world in the form of a catchy indie electro-pop album. This metaphor for Passion Pit’s Manners falls apart in any number of ways, of course. The Beach Boys are alive and presumably well, and Passion Pit sound nothing like them. And so forth. The point is, Passion Pit’s experimental flair and knack for melody make Manners a delight.
Rating: * * * * *
Dirty on Purpose: Hallelujah Sirens
Dirty on Purpose isn’t dirty at all. It’s a bunch of “ooh” and “ahh” singing over the top of mid-tempo indie rock. The instruments blend into a single uniform sound the moves up and down, faster or slower in gestalt. The piano or guitar repeats a melody line, usually nothing designed to stand out. Even when the percussion pushes the pace, the soft tenor singing remains relaxed and calm. Ultimately it all contributes to the layers of texture that build. The sparse songs are too light and wispy. The bigger the noise Dirty on Purpose makes, the better they sound.
Rating: * * * *
Boat: Songs That You Might Not Like
It doesn’t get more do-it-yourself sounding than Boat. The playing is sloppy and loose, but that seems to be more of a stylistic choice than a lack of talent. They sound like slackers in a basement. The songs are short, catchy, and sometimes clever. They throw in odd effects and nonconventional instruments here and there (though I guess clapping and whistling do not qualify as instruments). Really Boat is a bunch of silliness making absurd rhymes to music while waiting for the pizza guy. It’s fun. It’s peppy. It’s songs that you might like more than Boat thinks you will.
Rating: * * * *
Beck: Guero
After several style changes, Beck strikes back with his unique type of genre bending. Country, alternative, techno, and any number of other influences show up, say hi, and disappear on Guero. In that way, it is vintage Beck. However, this time he has tamed some of his quirkiness and abandoned altogether the lyrical jabberwockies that marked his early stuff. “Girl,” the third song, caught my attention. What is this? I thought. A straight song? A second listen proved me wrong, but only to a degree. Like several songs on Guero, “Girl” maintains Beck’s recognizable branding but moderates his eccentric weirdness.
Rating: * * * *
Belle & Sebastian: The Life Pursuit
Dear Catastrophe Waitress moved along so quietly and slowly. The Life Pursuit pushes the tempo and even includes a wild electric guitar solo on “We Are the Sleepyheads.” Belle & Sebastian’s jangly folk style wakes up. By keeping the acoustic guitars to a minimum, they manage to invigorate their brand of Scottish indie pop. It never stales or becomes mired in sentiment. At times Belle & Sebastian sound like they’re trying out for a hip TV show or teen movie soundtrack, but I don’t think this is on purpose. Oft imitated, these guys refuse to be duplicated, even by themselves.
Rating: * * * * *
Blind Pilot: 3 Rounds and a Sound
Blind Pilot hails from Portland’s indie scene, where they have been known to tour via bicycle. Their mellow folk rock jangles so pleasantly and so thoughtfully over the album’s 11 songs that the wrap up leaves something to be desired—an encore. There’s nothing all that special about Blind Pilot, nothing that necessarily stands out, but I could listen to 3 Rounds and a Sound over and over. No wild flourishes, just perfectly composed and balanced tunes that don’t call attention to themselves. They’re a band that deserves to be heard by everyone but will likely continue in relative obscurity.
Rating: * * * * *
Elizabeth & the Catapult: Taller Children
Elizabeth & the Catapult is an indie pop trio that plinks away at their pianos and acoustic guitars, alternating between jangly alternative and jangly’s quieter cousin, mellow folk. The focus throughout, however, is on singer Elizabeth Ziman, and Ms. Ziman is deserving of the attention. The songs themselves flirt with drudgery at times. “The Hang Up,” for example, sounds like a Dusty Springfield impersonator at a lounge in the wee hours. Luckily it is followed by the considerably more energetic “Hit the Wall.” “Rainiest Day of Summer” sounds like something from the Carpenters, which I guess is a good thing.
Rating: * * * *
Paper Route: Absence
Paper Route carries the synthesizer torch. Listening to Absence, I thought, “This is what New Order was trying to do.” A few decades ago, Paper Route would have been buried in Erasures, Depeche Modes, Pet Shop Boys, and Duran Durans. The synth pop forest has since been denuded; even some of the pioneers have switched genres. Now Paper Route is the best thing on the scene. Why are they the torchbearers? Because they get it right. The sound is right and the songs are right. Their style is complex, yet restrained, precise, yet impassioned. They’re ushering the new new wave.
Rating: * * * * *
White Rabbits: It’s Frightening
I love the sparse guitars but high energy; the driving drums and the clunky piano. The focus is on rhythm and interplay between instruments more so than melodies and hooks. The White Rabbits’ canvas is filled with abstracts rather than portraits. The band comes from the New York garage scene (as though there were garages in New York). In any case, they compare favorably to Spoon and the Strokes, and other such indie rock groups. “Percussion Gun” provides a wonderful, fast start and “Leave It at the Door” wafts gently to wrap things up. Everything in the middle is gold.
Rating: * * * * *
St. Vincent: Actor
Annie Clark is St. Vincent. Actor, her second album, showcases pleasant string arrangements, Ms. Clark’s lovely vocals, ghostly synthesizers, and, just to keep you on your toes, a heavy techno drum kit. The melodies are generally sweet but are tinged with dark edges—haunting, distorted, or off-key touches that keep the music from sliding into the grocery store doldrums. The lyrics avoid, for the most part, retreading standard pop ground (the song “Bed,” for example, is about threatening to shoot an intruder). The song craft and orchestration mixed with distorted, stomping rhythms lands Actor somewhere between Rufus Wainwright and Portishead.
Rating: * * * * *
