Music Review: Travellers In Space and Time by The Apples in Stereo

The Apples In Stereo are back - and it could be said that they are better than ever. In 2007, we saw the Elephant 6 indie gods release New Magnetic Wonder, an epic 24-track album that I assumed would be the height of their powers. Frontman Robert Schneider had molded his utter brilliance for sonic psychedelia and melody into intuitive pop songs that were so good that it seemed you had already knew them for years. For their next project, Travellers in Space and Time, the Apples achieve something that was seemingly impossible: they have made disco cool again.

Schneider and The Apples in Stereo have always been classified as having a faint Jeff Lynne/ELO influence, but on Travellers they embrace that comparison and re-ignite the qualities that made the Light Orchestra so darn fun to listen to back in the day (hell, the intro to "Dignified Dignitary" is practically a dead ringer for the iconic opening to ELO's "Do Ya"). The songs are infused with driving dance beats, swirling string pieces, and the trademark childish wonder of Schneider's vocals. Set in a futuristic setting where music is ruled by vocoders and synths, Travellers is more like a back to the future gem. True to Apples in Stereo form, this album makes it fun to be a little geeky and unapologetically poppy to the very end.

The most noticeable thing when I began listening to Travellers is how seemingly effortless it is for the band to emit perfectly fun and upbeat pop songs. If there is a formula for writing a pop song, these guys have either discovered it or they were the ones who created the formula themselves. After a brief futuristic narration a la Fun Trick Noisemaker, the album jumps right into a bubbling song called "Dream About the Future" which is very similar to New Magnetic Wonder's opener, "Can You Feel It?" but with a much more distinct dance feel to it. If you were detecting disco, all questions are answered on "Hey Elevator", which is dripping with synthesizer overlays and electronic drum. Next comes a vocoder segue called "Strange Solar System" that will sound familiar to Apples fans which leads into one of the jewels of the album, "Dance Floor". There is no hidden meaning in the title - it is pure, unblemished disco presented masterfully by Schneider, who it seems to me like he was destined to rule the dance clubs all along after I listened to this song.

Just because the Apples in Stereo have embraced disco, doesn't mean they have ditched their roots, however. Tracks like "C.P.U", "No One In The World", and "It's All Right" show off their winning equation of sonic guitar + quirky melody = awesome pop - though "It's All Right" features an interesting back-and-forth tussle between classic Apples and disco Apples. Furthermore, Travellers never really loses steam in its second half, and for a 16-track album it's essential that it changes pace a little bit. The Apples accomplish this by featuring some great contributions of new band members John Dufilho (formerly of The Deathray Davies) and Bill Doss (of Olivia Tremor Control fame). It's last great track is "Nobody But You", a final ode to Lynne and ELO as it parallels their timeless "Evil Woman".

It's clear that the Apples in Stereo are still on top of the game and have reached the point where they can change genres without losing quality or accessibility. Robert Schneider is in the most prolific songwriting period of his career, and I hope that there's more material waiting in the pipeline to delight my ear buds for the very near future.

Music Review: Teen Dream by Beach House

Note: This review will be appearing in the February edition of the Bulldog Bulletin

As the new decade began there was one album that seemed to be on everyone’s watch list for 2010. Beach House’s Teen Dream has defied the odds by fulfilling every bit of the hype it received – and then some. This album is a masterpiece of subtlety filled with dreamy hooks and intoxicating melodies, all while still retaining a very minimalist feel to it. In the same vein as Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest, a band with which Beach House is close buddies with not so coincidentally, Teen Dream becomes more intricate and intriguing upon each listen as its psychedelic waves of sound engulf you completely for a full forty-nine minutes.
For their third album, Beach House – a highly respected but relatively little-known band prior to now – opened up their sound completely in contrast to their second album Devotion. When comparing the two albums it almost sounds like the sound mixer turned the volume up about 5 notches for Teen Dream. Part of this must certainly be due to the new locale for Dream’s recording – band members Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally rented out a cathedral in Upstate New York and it adds a lot of atmosphere to their sound. The instruments themselves are hardly grandiose however; as Scally employs a cheap drum machine and old synthesizer throughout much of the album. Legrand’s voice (compared often to Nico of Velvet Underground fame) positively soars above each track so that the contrast between her vocals on Dream and her extreme nonchalance from the band’s first two albums is remarkable. Legrand and Scally step out of the shadows on this album to provide a much more appealing pop-friendly sound that still is firmly rooted in the band’s signature dreamy ambience and desolate nature.
The first three tracks of Teen Dream run a clinic on how to introduce an album. “Zebra” starts with a deliberate repeating guitar intro, joined with driving cymbals and kick drum. Wispy “aaaahs” follow until it is all finally joined by Legrand’s robust vocals. Its chorus proudly proclaims, “Any way you run, you run before us/Black and white horse arching among us!” as the hooks welcome you into the experience. The next track, “Silver Soul”, is a psychedelic fuzz suite that just emanates the word “cool”. It’s molasses thick with a masterful fuzz guitar, holy organ chords, and smooth half-time drums. Legrand repeatedly cries out, “It is happening again!” adding a frantic undertone to such a hypnotic and laid-back song. “Silver Soul” fades out into lingering chords from the organ that ring throughout the cathedral until finally resolving into the album’s showcase track “Norway”. This track is most likely unlike any song you’ve ever heard, and in turn the sense of discovery and wonder that it gives to the listener for the first time is invariably what gives it such a strong appeal. The synth slides in and out of tune unpredictably throughout the song – almost sounding like the thing is broken – until you realize that Legrand’s vocals are matching the synth’s warbles and slides and it instantly becomes unbelievably cool. “Norway” is out to a quick start for my top song of 2010 (and we’re only through February), and it’s going to take something really special to knock it off its perch.
Thankfully, the rest of Teen Dream never sags after those first three songs as every track is instantly re-listenable at any time. It’s hard to imagine another album matching Teen Dream’s strength from the first song to the last and although it’s a bit early to make proclamations I wouldn’t be surprised to find this album still sitting at the top of my list at the end of the year. Expect big things from Beach House in the future…really big things.

Music Review: Contra by Vampire Weekend

Note: This review will be appearing in the February edition of the Bulldog Bulletin

On January 12, the vaunted prep rock band Vampire Weekend released their second full-length album, Contra, after months of anticipation. Its chart success exceeded nearly everyone’s already sky high expectations as it became just the 12th indie album to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 200, joining the exclusive company of bands like Radiohead and Pearl Jam. Now that Vampire Weekend is firmly entrenched in the national consciousness it is imperative that they stay fresh and innovative going forward to avoid becoming just a fad and judging from Contra it appears that they are trying to do just that.
Vampire Weekend burst onto the scene in 2008 with their exciting self-titled debut and quickly set fire to the indie world. Critics praised the band for their remarkably clean instrumentation and clever high-brow campus lyrics. My impressions from their first album was that the band was undeniably catchy and sounded like the most professional and intelligent garage band that one could imagine. If Vampire Weekend did have a flaw – and it was a rather minor flaw, mind you – it was that when you thought about the album in retrospect many of its songs appeared to have very similar structures and sounded very much the same. I think the band was very aware of this because there is a clear effort on Contra to branch out and experiment a bit to keep their creative juices flowing and keep from going stale. There are many more violin interludes paired with African rhythms on songs like “Run” and “Horchata”, they sample M.I.A. on “Diplomat’s Son”, and even experiment with auto tune (very risky when dealing with a purist indie following) on “California English, Pt. 1”. These experiments all succeed and add another dimension to Vampire’s catalogue. However, other experiments miss the mark – “Giving Up the Gun” leans way too far towards pop and sounds unnatural when placed with the other songs on the album and the finale “I Think Ur a Contra” plods on for too long without building to any memorable climax.
While looking to the future Vampire Weekend has certainly not forgotten what gimmicks brought them fame in the first place. Their clever lyrics are once again shown off in “Horchata” as singer Ezra Koenig begins the album by rhyming “horchata” with “balaclava”. They also prove that they can still rock faster than almost anyone out there with the frenetic lead single “Cousins”. They still keep the tone relatively light and simple and still make playing complex music sound effortless.
Ultimately, Contra falls short of Vampire Weekend’s debut for me in large part because it feels a little less complete than its predecessor. Still, this album was crucial for the band in order to keep their options open and keep the public guessing as to what they’ll come up with next. We will probably look back at Contra as the point where they went national and where they started growing creatively.