Sky Signal

Debut album from this Philadelphia band, two of whose members were once in Matt Pond PA. The sound here is melodic indie pop without the chamber elements (no cellos or French horns). The strength of this album is the gentle, hushed group singing (which features male and female voices) and the interesting, sometimes strange even, arrangements. That said the singing verges on sounding affected and the lyrics are sometimes quite weak. The band seems to be suckers for cheesy flourishes too.  Tracks 1 and 4, however, are standouts.

**1. [3:05] Gentle male and female vocals in unison.
2. [4:35] Delayed vocals. Pretty catchy except the chorus.
3. [4:15] Alternates between soft and loud, single voice and multiple voices. Some random noises for kicks too.
**4. [3:43] Cool middle part anchored only by drums and pretty voices.
5. [3:22] A little too affected for me, but some interesting twangy effects.
6. [3:40] Faster, “darker” track. Middle gets a little weighed down by chorus of “bum bums” although done with kind of cool interchange.
7. [4:32] Fast start. Actually signing without their usual stifled sound, builds up to nosier ending but with some annoying “ooh oohs” over the entire thing.
8. [2:50] Pretty good, but doesn't follow through­mostly lyrically.
9. [4:09] Still a lot of group singing but changed up a bit. More narrative song.
10. [4:12] FCC: FUCK. No group singing, but 2 distinct male & female voices for the most part. Kind of a bipolar song.