Odd Blood

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By John Mariano

Yeasayer saw a jump in their exposure in the last few years.  One, because of their ties to Animal Collective and other Brooklyn based freak folk acts, and two, from their inclusion on the Dark was the Night compilation from this past year.  On their sophomore album, they take ideas from All Hour Cymbals, and add more of their flair for Middle Eastern rhythms mixed with some utter craziness.   Up through “ONE”, this is fairly straightforward psychedelic hippie folk stuff (whoever thought that would be possible?) that does the job well enough.  However, somewhere between the trance journey, “Love Me Girl” and the wacked out insanity that is “Rome” the second half sees them branching out into some “experimental” territory indeed; and not the good kind.  There are hints of Culture Club and The Cure here, but through a tripped out, Middle Eastern lens.  That is to say, these are some very catchy tunes mixed in with some very strange stylistic choices.  And yet, they still come off somewhat of an Akron/Family without the musical chops.  “Ambling Alp” is where all the A.C. comparisons come from, but they end there.  Tribal drumming and big choruses lend well to what will surely be one of the feel good songs of the year.  “Ambling Alp”, I see a car commercial in your future.  “I Remember” has a melody lifted straight from Super Mario World that weaves perfectly with Anand Wilder’s sweet vocals while “ONE” shows hints of the Depeche Mode and other new wave.  And then things turn south.  “Rome” sounds like an outtake from Newsies or some other awful musical cacophony.  Such things bring to mind “Xanadu” or any other number of ridiculously over the top musical excursions.  The rest of the album continues on this route of freak folk by way of The Mars Volta and the results are frightening to say the least.  It’s no surprise that the four songs from this album they’ve been playing on tours are the best ones.  Do yourself a favor and turn this album off at the half way point.  Trust me. (Secretly Canadian)

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