Say Hi is really worth your time. Lightweight indie acousti-synth jangle-informed pop with break-yr-heart-in-30-words-or-less lyrics. One-man band out of Brooklyn that started off as a guy (Eric Elbogen) and a synthesizer, and additional instruments aside, this is still precision pop at its core. Vocals a dead match for Win Butler (Arcade Fire), but you could mention this guy in the same breath as the Handsome Furs and it wouldn't feel weird. Or, hell, Conor Oberst. Or any of a litany of boys with adorable singing lisps. Eric Elbogen may just be too cool and talented for words. Despite being indie rock, these songs have a sure-footedness and crispness about them that's rare for the genre -- he doesn't hide behind fuzz or wavers, and you can hear every part, every instrument, every line, exactingly choreographed. Also his lyrics are bloody brilliant. Anyway, this album is divvied up into 'Side A' and 'Side B', which pretty much sells me. If you dig this, we have his last record (Oohs & Aahs) in the library -- seriously, worth its weight in mixtape gold. This is already one of my favourite albums of the year.

RIYL: Handsome Furs, Arcade Fire, Sea Wolf, Wakey!Wakey!, Bright Eyes's "Cassadaga", Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

try: 1, 3, 6, 9, 2, 5
no FCCs

*1. great, great song. starts w/soft flute, bright midtempo easy/tight guitar and spare kit. then: bells, jangle boppy tambourine. similes that get smarter and smarter with each listen. a chorus that back-to-backs "tell me is this how it's gonna be? / tell me is this all it's gonna be?". ooouuucchh.
*2. funk bass + bass drum pausing hilariously reminiscent of 'wild thing'. garage guitar and a raw, relaxed swampy sensibility. layered atmospheric vox in the moody slinkster chorus. somewhat abrupt end.
*3. lays down an easy barrel guitar melody like something off a wallflowers record, with a classic rock build that would make the boss proud. positively singing high guitar line and flute-like synth sprinkled in. laid back summer night jam. watch out for the last chord!
4. finger-snapping beat. strokes-like jutty guitar line, single-note keys and handclappy drums. underlying synth. happy, sharp. fun song about going dancing.
*5. randomly cribs the piano riff from... the truman show?! if you can get past that, haunty moody melodic doom-drenched lushness. echoey, ambient washy high-reg keys. nice padded sound.
*6. rimshots and shakers. a sidewindy cooker electric guitar riff. kinda sashays its way all over the place. "man it must be tough tough tough tough being a man."
7. stripped-down raw acoustic, optimistic blaring. hard and clangy. "things are gonna be fine, fine, fine."
8. whoa! super-synthy booming organ lead-up. vox come in, and all the sound sucks out. really cool and different pin-drop percussion effects. then: scratchy drum machine. and an 8-bit outro. ohhh yeah.
*9. upfront vox over groovy orby spare synth reminiscent of sea wolf's "winter windows". booming black keys-y 'whoa's. aches and twists. super slinky ode to a power chick. goes for new orleans blues, and nearly makes it there. "you can become stranded on an isle with her and hope that she gets bored with herself"? hottt.
10. easygoing syncopated fingerpicked electric and light brushed drums. oh, pleasantness.
11. single-strum acoustic opener, laid back sweet midtempo down home crooner. cute as shit travellin' song. from my trailer to yours, kid.
12. uptempo, drumless. nice acoustic needle riff and real-deal piano. vox drive the narrative. ends with some synth ruddering.