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Yeasayer - Odd Blood
Friday, January 15, 2010
The difference between Yeasayer's debut album, All Hour Cymbals, and their new album, Odd Blood, is stark. The former is kind of like a fantastical medieval adventure, while the latter is more like a night on the beach under the moon.
Reviewed by
Brad Cook
Yeasayer - Odd Blood
Since All Hour Cymbals had come out quite a while ago when I started listening to Yeasayer, I was quite excited to hear what they'd come out with next. Their video for "Ambling Alp" was what really got me into the band; if you are a Yeasayer fan and haven't seen that yet, you need to right now. If you've never heard Yeasayer, then you need to watch the video even more. The song and video are both so good that I was dying for more.
For better or for worse, their new album, Odd Blood, leaked long ago. At this point it's all over the internet, and harder to not find than to find. The band released this statement regarding the situation: "Presents are always spoiled for those who open them before they are supposed to." Now that they've held an official listening party, however, I'd say we're allowed to open ours.
Odd Blood is an entirely different album than All Hour Cymbals, in so many ways. There's a distinct difference in the instruments used from album to album; All Hour Cymbals had an natural, foggy, at times even tribal, sound to it, while Odd Blood is largely synthesizer based with significantly fewer traditional rock instruments. Some people may say that Yeasayer has gone "Animal Collective", pushing their sound in a more electronica direction while going more experimental, and to an extend I'd agree. Even though they're reaching out to further ends of the musical spectrum, they've also reeled their music in a bit. The songs are not as densely layered, meandering, or long as they used to be. They're much more refined and to the point. There are less soaring harmonies to provide warmth for the main vocal melodies, but the ones utilized are sharp and purposeful. Chris Keating's voice is sounding better than ever, his rich timbre quavering gorgeously over alternately bright and murky scenic musical landscapes, consistently more at the forefront than previously heard.
"The Children" is the album's opener, giving the album its first breath, which happens to come via iron lung. The song is a seriously industrial opener that at first I considered to be mostly a throwaway song, but when you really listen to it, every aspect of the song is pieced together with robotic accuracy; the vocal melody and the vocal effect are so perfectly matched. Definitely not the best song here but an interesting listen. This song gives way fantastically to "Ambling Alp", the album's first single, which has stayed fresh for so much longer than I thought it would. Percussion-heavy and severely major-key, this song will having you singing the chorus for weeks to come, whether you like it or not (you will). "Madder Red" is one of the more traditional rock songs on the album, kind of downtrodden, and definitely one of the more 80's influenced songs, with a thunderous, reverb-y percussion part and some of those wordless vocal parts that I loved from their debut. "I Remember", an instant standout of the album, is the fourth song. This is where the band comes closest to the Animal Collective comparisons, though Animal Collective is certainly in a league of their own. It's a sparkly, lofty, upbeat song as fun to listen to as it is to sing along with. "O.N.E." is perhaps the crowning achievement of the album; it's danceable, relentless, catchy, layered, and basically the climax of Odd Blood.
"Love Me Girl" is the kind of title that would make me think of an acoustic pop-ballad where the singer attempts all sorts of word-play and a falsetto bit to woo the opposite party. The song is actually the most techno-esque one on the album, almost reminding me of Radiohead's "Idioteque". The lyrics deal with questions we men find ourselves wondering from time to time: "What is she covering up? What is she lying about?… Why is this happening now?" "Rome" is basically a Donkey Kong Country song with one of the guys from "Tool Time" playing the waving saw over it. Great song. For some reason, "Strange Reunions" doesn't really do anything for me. Not a bad song by any means, but it's the one I usually skip over. It has kind of a MIddle-Eastern or perhaps Indian feel to it, either way there's not enough there to keep me listening. "Mondegreen" is actually a term coined to describe when you're listening to something and you think you hear a ridiculous phrase, only to realize that's not what was said. You know, like when it sounds like Jimi Hendrix says "Excuse me while I kiss this guy" in the song "Purple Haze". Mondegreen! This song sort of sounds like something from Flash Dance; it's really upbeat and really 80's, but surprisingly a very catchy song that will keep you coming back for more. The album ends with the perfect closer, "Grizelda". The playful vocals in the chorus really make this song. It's one of my favorites on the album, in part because of how happy the song sounds, yet how strange and threatening the lyrics are.
Yes, there are some elements of the old Yeasayer I miss. The old Yeasayer had much more of an indie edge to them, more experimentation, more instruments, and more background vocals. But it takes a lot of craftsmanship to create a record that could probably be considered both a pop and an indie classic. With Odd Blood, Yeasayer has moved more toward the pop genre, but at the same time brought all the quirk and strangeness that they used to have with them, it's just packaged differently. Odd Blood is an almost universally solid album, with each song clearly presenting its own personality and purpose. It's certainly a cleaner, more fun album than their previous, but sometimes you want more than fun, and I'm glad to say this album delivers in all aspects.
1 comments:
March 23, 2010 12:28 PM
Ambling Alp is one of the most amazing videos I've ever seen.
Also they're coming to Phoenix next month so I guess you have to make your way to Arizona