This is the second studio album by Brooklyn Psychedelic Pop band Yeasayer, a name which i just love saying out loud. I don't know if it's 'Yea sayer' or 'Yeas ayer' or any other combination or what.. I just like the name. They play synthetic music with keys alike fellow New York based band Animal Collective. Close similarities are heard, where Animal Collective are perfect in production and sound, Yeasayer stay refined and soft around the edges, giving them a commercial feel at times. Sure it's Experimental as such, but the sound and vocals all point to a traditional electronic influenced album with synths, like the latest Editors album. I'm not calling this band bland, far from it.. They're just soft.
Numerous songs go straight over my head, for instance, Love Me Girl. I keep thinking Lady Gaga is about to come in and give a vocal. Sure it has a nice build up, but it doesn't lead anywhere, it has some sort of wub sound during the actual vocal piece, but to me, this is pretty shoddy.
Ambling Arp is the clear outstanding track, not just on the album, but in the year in general. It's a spectacular pop based song with a great chorus and just simple structure. It's not experimental as some would call it, but it does have many sound scape's which lead people to associate it with the experimental side of music, I've got to be honest.. Nothing on this album is experimental.
The band do have some good vocals, like with Madder Red, which has some lovely harmonics before turning into a completely different song. I can understand why some wouldn't like this. it's not in the same league as Animal Collective. Whoever thought of these two falling from the same tree was far from sane. I would place Yeasayer in the same region as The Big Pink, who have a greater incline towards noise, Yeasayer on the other hand focus on the basics and electronic aspects.
I wouldn't call this album great, but I wouldn't call it a bad album either. it's not an improvement on the previous album, All Hour Cymbals, released 3 years prior to this. Some tracks are very good, but not a majortiy. One is an outstanding track with leading synth lines and noticeable bass. The vocals sound fresh and extremely poppy, this could be considered mainstream, i can hear this being played on Radio One in the day time. We cant kid ourselves, this is a pop album.
Rome has a nice sounding beat, with a gritty synth and atmosphere, reminded me of Late of The Pier at one point, but i hear something different each time. The pop aspects take over with predictable lyrics. This aside, it does sound respectable, it's something you can put on for background music. I wouldn't listen to this on say.. A bus journey, but i would when I'm cleaning my car.
6.4
