Review: Battles - Gloss Drop

After frontman Tyondai Braxton left NYC math-rock band Battles to focus on his solo work, I wasn't really sure what would happen to the band's dynamic. After all, Braxton seemed to be the primary songwriting force in the group, and his goofy manipulated vocals added charm and character to the outrageous tracks on their excellent debut, Mirrored. The three remaining members soldiered on, and in June they'll officially drop their second record, and first without Braxton, Gloss Drop. Luckily, Braxton's departure didn't make this group any less fun to listen to.

Gloss Drop features many of the same elements that made Mirrored so great, lots of fast songs with complex instrumentation and polyrhythms. Since none of the members are particularly strong vocalists, a few of the songs feature guest vocalists in place of the departed Braxton. The strongest of these performances, and the one that adds the most to the song, is Matias Aguayo's work on first single "Ice Cream." His silly, gibbering singing adds a sense of playfulness to the track as it bounces along, it's actually almost like a ska revival kinda feel.

Most of the songs are purely instrumental, and out of these come the strongest tracks. "Futura" is the standout, a six-minute buildup of stacking guitar and synth lines over an constantly varied drumbeat that repeatedly climaxes in a frenzied burst of synths and then resets to do it all again. "Wall Streeet" is the most fun song here, a ridiculously fast and bubbly track with a climax that sounds vaguely eastern European (this is kinda hard to explain, listen to it and maybe you'll hear what I mean).

The record, like so many recently, is frontloaded with all the best songs, and it slows down a little at the end. Closer "Sundome" is a pretty big yawn when juxtaposed with the upbeatness of the rest of the album. Still, Gloss Drop is a triumph for Battles' new lineup, and I for one hope that they continue to record fun, happy music like this. 3.9/5.

(Sorry I could only find the one link, since this album isn't due to be released for another month or so, there aren't any up yet.)

Review: Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

First off, I'd like to thank everyone for all the nice things I've heard about the blog. This iteration seems to be going much better than the previous one and I've been very happy to read and hear everyone's comments. Thanks and keep readin'!

Above you can see the album cover for Fleet Foxes' new record, Helplessness Blues, to be released everywhere on May 3. No, it doesn't make sense to me either, but that's pretty much par for the course for this Seattle band. The group burst onto the indie scene in 2008 with their eponymous debut album and catchy but lyrically ambiguous single "White Winter Hymnal." The album was met with considerable acclaim (though I struggled to understand the extent of the praise), and the music world has waited with bated breath for the folk group to release a follow-up. Three years later, it finally happened, and I am pleased to say that it is a considerable triumph.

Frontman Robin Pecknold stated that after the arduous process of striving for perfect recordings on the first album, he wanted to attempt the opposite; doing most of the recordings only once and accepting small errors in the performances. Interestingly enough, there is almost no trace of errors in the final product, just a beautiful, carefree record that effortlessly showcases Pecknold's incredible songwriting. The band plays off each other beautifully, particularly on standouts "Bedouin Dress" and "The Plains/Bitter Dancer." The trademark vocal harmonies are again excellent, as Pecknold and the rest of his band (most of them contribute backup vocals) manage to improve their austere, old-timey vocal sound to make it fit even better with the music. While I found a few of the songs on the first record pretty boring, nearly every song on Helplessness Blues draws the listener in.

Really the only misstep here is an ill-fated attempt to add an avant-garde jazz section into the two part track "The Shrine/An Argument," a move that just comes off as ugly and a little pretentious. Otherwise, this is a beautiful indie folk record and one that everyone should have in their collection. 4.7/5.

Other excellent tracks:

Helplessness Blues

Lorelai

Grown Ocean