Pop indie music with, you guessed it, a surfer vibe. Guitar heavy, a lot of power chords. Sounds a bit like Vampire Weekend, Pavement, The Drums, and the singer from The Shins. FCC: 1, 7. Try 3, 4, 10.
1. Mid-tempo. I swear the guy sounds just like the lead from The Shins. Guitar riffs and chorus lead the song. String arrangement at the end, and then…FCC: ”fucking.”
2. It’s all about the power chord and the reverberating chorus line “Swim to reach the end.” Very cool.
*3. Very Vampire Weekend-y, has the odd syncopated African beat and the jerking guitar, but subdued, and the end of the song is totally calm and sort of fades out…very enjoyable.
*4. So good! Lumbering guitars and odd reverberating effects on the voice in the middle. Mid-tempo. Fake end at 3:20, and a long feedback end starting at 4:20, which sounds a bit like static.
5. Instrumental, made up of guitar riffs mainly.
6. Starts with little kids talking and steady beat on guitar, very Shins-y. Call and response lyrics. Chorus driven by guitar riff. Surfer vibe is strong in this one.
7. Another surfer, power chord driven song. Not the best though.
8. Title says it all: it’s “slow”! And has an FCC: “fucked.”
9. An ode to Alaska. Has a kind of brooding My Bloody Valentine quality to it. Guitar riffs abound. Longer than most songs on the album…kind of meanders.
*10. Name drops Obama. Great, short sweet song about love (what else?), with a weird harmonic chorale part. Fade out starts at 2:35, again with static sounding feedback.