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| The band plays tightly, employing a base of charged keyboards, guitars,
polyrhythms and jazz chords that resolve with the powder-fresh
fashionability of an Air song. Lead singer Josh Vasby adds comfortable,
slinky hooks to the package, sounding like Chris Martin with a soul. As a
whole, the band isn't afraid of prog -- twisty, heavy instrumental passages
flesh out the middle half of the nine-minute "Well Then, Alright" and tug on
other songs as well -- but nothing feels too rich or labored. That's
partially because a stack of soulful trumpets leavens the rockier moments on
tracks like "Thursday" or the swinging "Dirty House", or because a constant,
Pinback-like bounce and intimately miked guitar parts drive through the
reverb-touched soundscapes on "See You At the Meeting" and "Straight Line",
keeping everything down-to-earth. In any case, EP accomplishes a hell of a lot -- mixing prog, post-rock, soul and jazz-pop, offering tightly written, eclectic songs with unpredictable hooks -- and makes it all seem effortless. Ultimately, the fact that this water-tight disc spans so many genres and still sounds like the most natural, intimate thing in the world is not only sufficient reason to check out EP, but cause to keep a close eye on the band in the future. -- Matt Pierce |