Say Yes

Afternoons/Say Yes

Indie pop/indie rock. Energetic stuff, and weirder than it appears at first glance. This LA-based band has five members, plus a seven-member female choir singing backup, so expect a big, theatrical sound. Warm male voice (sometimes distorted), female backup, soft electronic tones, horns, guitar, piano, flute, strings—sometimes all at the same time. An upbeat sound, with lots of whooing and yeahing to remind you that you’re listening to something really fun.

In my opinion, if you stripped out a lot of the cheering/whooing/yeahing and some of the gratuitous instruments and backup vocalists, you might have a great album, but that might just be the minimalist in me talking. Even as it is, the album is worth checking out, just because it’s unorthodox. The amount of stuff happening in each song can be astounding.

Recommended: 1, 2, 4, 11

1) “Graffiti Artist” (4:22): Lots of woos. Nice, catchy beat, and good lyrics.
2) “Say Yes” (4:03): Weird booping gives way to a surreal soundscape, like munchkins singing. Then a traditional “radio sound” comes in. Has the sound of a single. I give it a thumbs-up for sheer ambition.
3) “Saturday Morning” (4:05): The singer seems pretty excited about Saturday morning.
4) “Bored Teenagers” (4:01): Cool distorted backup singing in the chorus. Some horns.
5) “Gloria” (6:01): Gets off to a slow start. I couldn’t really get into this one.
6) “Love is a Western Word” (5:06): For part of this, the vocalist sings in unison with a distorted voice, which is somewhat interesting.
7) “Oh Heather” (5:10): I like how prominent the male voice is here. The first two minutes is low energy, introspective stuff, and then the guitar brings in some energy. Ends abruptly.
8) “Perfect Wilderness” (3:50): I think the weirdness pulls together nicely here. Crunchy beat, guitar solos, horns, messy harmonies. Somehow it works for me.
9) “Said I Might” (3:05): I like how friendly and irreverent this song feels. “I never told you that I would, I said I might.”
10) “Intervention” (3:58): A relatively straightforward song. Voice ambles along as the beat walks forward.
11) “We’re Just Below the Sun” (6:00): Complex, but surprisingly catchy chorus. Lots of flute, strings, gentle electronic tones.

--Mr. Tumnus