Chamber-pop w/ generic male earnest indie rock vox (you know, the throaty Arcade Fire type). In varying degrees derivative of Mercury Rev and the Books (to my ears); I've noted tracks where this is most apparent.
Best: 3, 7, 9
1.Watery (literally, water sounds) and violin intro, moves into keyboard-based mid-tempo rock. Upbeat lyrics, catchy melody. Kinda drags in a wheedly midsection.
2.Very Mercury Rev. I think it even cops the melody from a song from Deserter's Songs in parts.. Organ and falsetto. Actually I like this track a lot, but I can't shake the feeling that they've taken it from elsewhere.
3.Starts with a Booksish sample about a cellist. In fact the whole track is like a less sample-based Books track. Gets the slow-build that a pop song of this length should have down right, with watery guitar, harpsichord, and, my favorite, unexpected faux-operatic male vocals coming in in turn.
4.Brief little ditty with prominent organ.
5.Trumpety, after a slow, low-volume intro. Long—9.5 minutes—maybe too long.
6.Samples and acoustic guitar in the beginning. Picks up a lot in the second half, with strings and more active keyboard part coming in. Long fadeout.
7.Ostensibly part two of the previous track, though it's utterly dissimilar (except insofar as the whole album is kind of samey). Starts with echoy thumpy drums, then abruptly the organ. Theremin in the background?
8.Fuzzy background in the intro. More prominent guitar than elsewhere, there's even something of a solo.
9.Wavery vocals treated to sound as if they're being played from an old record or through an old-fashioned radio. Would make a good match to the Faun Fables' “Higher”.
10.NB despite reading 15:39 long, this track actually ends -11:04. Then there's lots of silence and some bits and pieces that don't really cohere. The track itself is good, good use of multiple vocal sources.