“O, That I Had Wings”: Shy Hunters

This is the first album from a new Brooklyn-based boy/girl duo. They’re styling themselves as indie pop, and I suppose they are, but parts of some of the songs sound post-punky.

Beautiful soprano female voice soaring on top of drums, limited electronics, and guitar. Songs are generally slow, mounting builds. The guitar often plays a countermelody. Often the first minute of one of their songs is distinct from the rest, so listen to at least the first two minutes to get a sense of whether you want to play it. Good lyrics.

Definitely check this out if you get a chance.

1) “Echoes” (4:22): pretty brilliant poppy chorus.
2) ** “Time Bomb” (5:24): FCC: FUCK. Strong post-punk influences on this one. First minute of this one isn’t poppy at all. Vocalist mostly just talks. Then we get a bass line and the song picks up. Only during safe harbor.
3) “Raise Voices” (5:20): Cool, chill, Warpainty first minute; then the guitar touches down and it picks up speed.
4) “Right World” (5:17): Electronic first minute, then a brief hard rocky interlude at the second minute.
5) “Stained Glass House” (3:41): Slower. Big soaring notes above twittering guitar.
6) * “Pure Joy” (5:35): Quick repetitive guitar/drums with more big notes for vocalist. Nice moment around 3:40 when the guitar is allowed to play a larger role. Sound becomes dense, interesting in the last minute.
7) ** “Dead Girls” (5:27): Welcome to the kingdom of dead girls. I have to recommend this song just for that line. Beautiful interlude around 2:15. Some stylized yelling at the end.
8) “Real Love” (3:22): Catchy beginning but I found it a bit repetitive.
9) * “Idle Days” (4:14): Guitar and vocalist share melody for a little while. One of the simpler songs and one of the catchier melodies. More of a quiet pop song.

Mr Tumnus