Album Reviews: Deerhoof, Stars, etc.
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
But, no. There's words, always words, and now the brain's all tangled up in everything.
Deerhoof | A-
For a record that’s bursting with confetti, psycho carnival joy and riffs, riffs, riffs, La Isla Bonita (Polyvinyl) really thrives in its delicate second half, where Satomi Matsuzaki’s voice and some surf/spy sounds rise above the fun-house confusion. Deerhoof — who plays Union Transfer on Sunday — has excelled in giddy schizophrenia for 20 years. They’re not about to run out of ideas now.
—Marc Snitzer
Stars | B
These Canadian indie poppers could’ve been content to let the hips do the thinking on No One Is Lost (ATO). But, no. There’s words, and now the brain’s all tangled up in everything, thinking we’re getting Postal Service or New Pornographers when we’re supposed to be getting down to the heartbeat bass and robo disco rhythms. The computer’s self-aware, at least. Quoth the gentle and pretty “You Keep Coming Up”: Torquil Campbell: “I call it poetry.” Amy Millan: “It’s called a pop hook.”
—Patrick Rapa
Lily & Madeleine | A-
As this Indianapolis sister act continues its glacial transition from pristine folk to Sundays-style indie pop, let us bid farewell to the rock crit terminology we used to use in Lily & Madeleine reviews: So long “simple.” Goodbye “spare” and “pristine” and “folk.” Some parts of their gorgeous second LP, Fumes (Asthmatic Kitty), could even be called rock ’n’ roll, with those pretty-as-hell voices suddenly met by melodies with prominent guitars and snare drums. See them at World Café Live on Friday; next time around they might be doing death metal.
—Patrick Rapa
The Smith Street Band | B+
Coming from an Australian punk band that is probably pretty far from home on any given day, it’s fitting that Throw Me in the River (SideOneDummy) is concerned with location. That could either be a literal blip on a map (one track jumps from London to Melbourne to “smoking weed in New York City in the rain”) or, taking Wil Wagner’s belligerent gut-spilling into account, a more impressionist sense of place — one that’s found at the top of your lungs.
—Marc Snitzer
