November 2009 / vol. 6 issue 3
The Spin Cycle
Tap Tap
Lanzafame
(Catbird; 2006)
Rating: 8.0
The reason you’re reading about this record and not another, more recent one is worth mentioning up front: I’ve got the heads-up on a band that has not yet released an album but will no doubt generate buzz in the near future (a difficult thing to do these days). This band is Pete and the Pirates and stars the mastermind behind solo act Tap Tap along with several additional members. In a way, I’m reviewing two bands via one album.
Lanzafame (“Lan-zuh-fam-ay,” pronounced with a firm British accent) is a wonderful and tragically overlooked indie rock album from what many students my age consider the genre’s most exciting era. The album sounds as though a brilliant young man recorded it in his bedroom seeking to shake up the common ground between the welcoming sounds of old artists — think the Kinks, the Clean and the Beach Boys — and the sometimes more abrasive sounds of its generation - think the Arcade Fire and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
Pete and the Pirates’s material is very similar to that of Tap Tap but employs enhanced electric guitars, pop riffs, and high-end distortion. The biggest distinction I can identify between the two is that Pete and the Pirates have adopted a more modern British guitar-pop mentality, which results in more guitar solos, more full-bodied embellishments, and more well-rounded songs.
However, it’s a mixed blessing that the newer band has a vision as singular as the former had; they are consistent songwriters, but extended listening may provide diminishing returns. As a result, Pete and the Pirates’ work suffers from the same problem that Tap Tap’s Lanzafame has: the truly delicious morsels of music must be picked out from amongst the tasty but homogenous filler.
Looking back at Tap Tap’s 2006 release, though it’s not all that recent, will ultimately help you appreciate Pete and the Pirates’ forthcoming album. So if you’re trying to keep up with the direction of modern pop and rock, it will benefit you this time to take a step back and revisit Lanzafame.
Atlas Sound
Logos
(Kranky;2009)
Rating: 8.9
If you read modern music blogs regularly, you’re probably aware of and enamored with the Atlas Sound, Deerhunter, Lotus Plaza family tree that has been shaping the American rock scene recently. If you aren’t, don’t sweat it. You don’t need any previous knowledge of them to fall head over heels for this album.
Bradford Cox, the backbone of the aforementioned groups, typically builds songs from slow, billowy, electronic soundscapes and reverb-burdened vocals when doing solo work as Atlas Sound. The result is a numbing swirl of bells and swells, which are consistently pleasant yet not engaging enough to keep the average listener’s attention. This time around, Cox attempts to keep the audience interested, primarily by switching his focus to pop hooks instead of subtle production flourishes.
The new emphasis on pop is most obvious in his collaborative efforts on Logos. The tracks featuring Noah Lennox (a.k.a. Panda Bear) of avant-pop group Animal Collective and Laetitia Sadier of British electronic group Stereolab give the impression that while Cox is in the driver’s seat, his new friends are navigating. Although those songs bear Cox’s signature style, they sound like their respective guests wrote them. Such collaborations are a winning strategy that adds a lot of charm to his readily apparent talent.
I’ve been spinning this immediately infectious album whenever I can. It contains nuances to be discovered and embraced in each subsequent listen. Not only is this Cox’s best work, but it will also undoubtedly be one of my favorite albums this year. 
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