Like "Ambling Alp", Odd Blood itself should appeal to a lot of
people: Yeasayer have made a potentially vanguard record using the full
range of possibilities of software-based music to create what once
would have been radio-friendly rock. The elastic "O.N.E." and the Tears
for Fears-ish "I Remember" are successful mid-80s throwbacks, achieving
the full potential hinted at on All Hour Cymbals and rivaling
that album's best material. Opener "The Children" also works by
tailoring their offbeat tendencies into a tightly packaged song. In
much of the first half of the album, Yeasayer demonstrate a rare
craftsmanship and consideration that's too often shoved under the rug
in modern indie music. Their lyrics may not say much of anything, but
their agile arrangements, sense of dynamics and pacing, and singer
Chris Keating's expressive vocals communicate plenty- Pitchfork.comFebruary 2010 Archives
Like "Ambling Alp", Odd Blood itself should appeal to a lot of
people: Yeasayer have made a potentially vanguard record using the full
range of possibilities of software-based music to create what once
would have been radio-friendly rock. The elastic "O.N.E." and the Tears
for Fears-ish "I Remember" are successful mid-80s throwbacks, achieving
the full potential hinted at on All Hour Cymbals and rivaling
that album's best material. Opener "The Children" also works by
tailoring their offbeat tendencies into a tightly packaged song. In
much of the first half of the album, Yeasayer demonstrate a rare
craftsmanship and consideration that's too often shoved under the rug
in modern indie music. Their lyrics may not say much of anything, but
their agile arrangements, sense of dynamics and pacing, and singer
Chris Keating's expressive vocals communicate plenty- Pitchfork.com
he songs on Pierced Arrows' first album, Descending Shadows,
sound so loose and intuitive that you might assume they were recorded
as the band was just learning how to play them. But what you're hearing
is the effortless ability of at least 75 years of collective
garage-punk experience, courtesy of the husband-and-wife team of Fred
and Toody Cole. The former leaders of Dead Moon, the Coles likely make
up this music while mowing the lawn in some backwoods town where no
one's even heard of blogs, because these tunes are timeless, and
unsullied by modern taste. Even as garage rock in the vein of Crazy
Horse, the dodgy tempo shifts of "Paranoia," crusty call-out choruses
of "On Our Way" and "This Is the Day" and paleolithic riffage of "Let
It Rain" are unlike anything even the most obscurantist record store
clerk could name-drop. Sure, Toody's singing makes Kim Gordon sound
like Karen Carpenter, and drummer Kelly Halliburton holds it all
together, but this is as real as rock 'n' roll gets. - Eye Weekly
