4Play

Aug. 15, 2007

Earlimart – Mentor Tormentor – Sony
Earlimart knows their earworms - and, in spite of this album’s slightly grumpy tone, they’ve still got them in abundance. Skillfully blending the best of indie-pop with a little of the shoegaze influences that helped establish their sound, they wind their way apprehensively through this set, utilizing those supercatchy melody lines, plenty of harmonies, and a caustic wit to get their message of dismay and determination across tenfold. “Happy Alone” chimes gleefully with threats, “Gonna Break Into Your Heart” beats out Jennifer Hudson in the “you’re gonna love me” department, and the set closes with “Cold Cold Heaven,” yet another tune that makes one wonder why Earlimart isn’t spending more time on the radio.



White Rabbits – Fort Nightly – Say Hey
New buzz bands hop (sorry, couldn’t resist) out of nowhere all the time, but it’s a staunch few that can live up to the press hype. Will White Rabbits show longevity, or merely fade into the same place as past hot topics? Only time will tell for sure, but with this album, they’ve got a darned good shot at the former. Highly reliant on the lower tones of the piano - which makes for a nice, big, dark tone - this band writes well and encase their compositions in a large-scale, melodramatic cape that leaves plenty of room to showcase their songs’ hooks and interesting twists. “Navy Wives” even adds a bit of ska, “March of Camels” calls in a little reggae, and “Dinner Party” throws in an unexpected organ - it’s all not what you’d expect, and the album’s all the better for it.



Feist – The Reminder – CT Music
Otherwise known as the solo project of Canada’s Leslie Feist, this set showcases Feist’s songwriting skills and exemplary balladry. Blending lo-fi pop, jazz, and folk, Feist’s vocals aren’t always the smoothest, but they’re definitely emotive and uniquely her own, and they work quite well with the jangling guitars and modern arrangements that she uses here. Standouts include “My Moon My Man,” in which she embarks on a series of strange, layered harmonies; the outdoor-feel of “The Park,” with its ambient sounds; the more folky “Past In Present,” and perhaps the disc’s most accessible track, “1234,” which the hipsters among you will recognize as “That Song” - the one that’s accompanied by a nifty old-school-musical-type video on MTV.




The Twilight Sad – Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters – Fat Cat
Delivered with a thick Scottish accent and an entire wall of postmodern, slushy guitars, The Twilight Sad’s latest is really more like soundscapes than songs, as singer James Graham emotes over and through the wash of sound that indicates each track’s emotional locale. During “That Summer, at Home I Become the Invisible Boy,” you feel Graham’s isolation as he falls victim to youthful cliques; during “Last Year’s Rain Didn’t Fall Quite So Hard,” you want to hand the poor beleagured guy an umbrella; and during “I’m Taking the Train Home,” you feel that sense of transfer that only a good performer can put across. Add to all of this TTS’s appealingly melancholy drones, those aforementioned guitars, and epic drum parts, and you’ve got a winner.