Any band who hangs with koalas is okay in my book.
When I heard Yeasayer’s “I Remember” off the experimental rock band’s latest album Odd Blood, I immediately asked for the album.
It was the first time in awhile a band I’d never heard of had caught my attention, but I loved the beat and the nearly dance-like quality of the track. It was a synthesizer-driven, melodic song, very pretty and very well put together.
Little did I know that the rest of the album would be radically different track to track. But folks, don’t let that deter you from this album. If you like synth, catchy beats and vocals that are easy on the ears, Yeasayer is a solid bet. Just bear in mind that these guys are an experimental, psychedelic rock band, and some of the music they make is pretty peculiar.
Opener “The Children” is a little bizarre right from the start, with a voice modulator skewing any sense of normalcy the vocals could have had. A simple piano beat repeats in the background, and it would almost turn me off from the album for sheer creepiness if I didn’t know how much fun the rest of the songs sounded.
“Ambling Alp” is a prime example of that. A short glock rhythm leads into a poppy little jam about sticking up for yourself. The song has goofy little psych-pop interludes of abstract sounds and synth chords, but they don’t detract from catchiness of the track. Singer Chris Keating jumps from solid tenor lines to crazy, Scissor Sisters-like falsettos, but somehow it all works.
The following track, “Madder Red” is slower, but still as intricate as the previous. It’s a pretty, heartbreaking number, one that uses smatterings of electric guitar and steady drums to add a darker shade to the melody. “Even when my luck is down / I take joy in knowing that our love grows / But if my vices are a burden / Please don’t let me off / Cast me from your home,” Keating sings, and even though it’s a simple song, he does a phenomenal job of pulling off the sincerity. And the humming intro and underlay is really neat, too.
For as different as each song sounds, none are long enough to be overly off-putting. Half the album clocks in at less than four minutes a song and a couple of tracks are less than three.
Keating’s wild falsetto comes back with a vengeance in “Love Me Girl,” but three minutes in the lyrics drop away for a lengthy instrumental interlude. The vocals pick up again in the last minute and the song skirts the edge of a major style change, throwing in snatches of new age sounds just to be confusing.
“Rome” takes the album in a whole new direction. Think a more electric Franz Ferdinand (from the newest album, anyway). Romping bass lines juxtaposed with some almost horn-like synth tones and buoyant lyrics give this one a surprisingly jazz feel. And it totally works.
Echoing verses, light clapping and layered beats give “Strange Reunions” a world-music feel, running the gambit on psychedelic sounds.
And then Yeasayer is off again with a whole new sound in the pounding, clapping, bass-heavy “Mondegreen,” (which, on a silly aside, is a word that means the misinterpretation of a lyric. It may be because of this intimidating title that no one has tried to post the lyrics for this one online yet). Your hands might get tired of clapping after the first couple minutes, but you will definitely want to dance through this song.
The back half of the album is definitely the part dedicated to excessive, clapping beats. But interestingly enough, each one is so varied that it’s a subtle repetition.
Closer “Grizelda” takes the sound back to the more lilting numbers like “I Remember” and “Madder Red” as Keating sings about running from a regrettable act. The lyrics and the vibe of the song don’t really match up, but it’s still an awfully harmonious song.
Though Odd Blood is Yeasayer’s second album since 2007, you don’t need to be familiar with All Hour Cymbals to appreciate the new album.
Every track has its own unique take on Yeasayer’s feel, and they all work as solid tracks both on their own and as an album.
-Liz
