Artist: Maps And Atlases
Album: Perch Patchwork
Year: 2010
I was completely unprepared for this album. I have always liked the Chicago math-rock band, following them from their first two EPs on Sargent House, but with this release the band has veered straight into indie-pop territory. As intro "Will" dies down into the clanging "The Charm", vocalist Dave Davison strikes the first lyrics of the album, delivered honestly and with a smile: "I don't think there is a sound that I hate more / then the sound of your voice". The incredible percussion section that drives the band clangs on until suddenly you're being assaulted completely by rhythm as Davison repeats and cries for your attention. "Solid Ground" is an immediate highlight, and while this album loses some of the math that made me love the band, the wonderful percussion, musicianship, and almost mathily-laid harmonies sold me on this release. "Isreali Caves" is downright pretty, "Banished Be Cavalier" is complex and intricate but somehow simple in gorgeousness; "Carry The Wet Wood" is probably the most like their earlier work and is wonderful. In fact, the back end of the album is deliciously intricate in this style, though the musicianship is more for the sake of harmony then for it's own sake now. Which, in my book, is an improvement. Just check out the deliriously fun "Pigeon", a fun sing-along pop track that somehow works in the 100mph finger-tapped guitars that this band is loved for. The album closes with the gorgeous title track, eventually ending in thick intricate vocal waves. Don't pass this one up.
Hear it for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFMMstpu8dw
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