REVIEW: Local Natives – Gorilla Manor

I really have no idea how to write record reviews.

I had pretty low expectations for Local Natives “gorilla manor”. After reading pitchfork’s review I got the impression that they were going to be just another ‘acoustic indie rock’  band…a sort of fleet foxes meets grizzly bear (neither of which I’m particularly crazy about). I was wrong I was right.

When I put the record on, I was treated to about 9 seconds of some ambient-ish reverberant guitar play before the drums came in. It was at this point that I became extremely excited. The drums sounded really fresh & original with a sort of dirty/scrappy character. (they have some of the fast paced jangle of early modest mouse, with the speed and accuracy of the nationals[boxer] drumming). then, at about 39 seconds, the vocals came in, and it was at this point that I was totally underwhelmed / disappointed. I just cant stand this type of super-plain, super clean fleet foxes/grizzly bear-style singing. To the credit of the band, they are “good” singers, technically speaking, but there is nothing about the vocals, in the first few tracks, that I found memorable. It just sort of washed over me, too clean and perfect to remember.

The trend continued until the 3:00 mark of track 3 – ‘sun hands’, at which point the singer burst into a fit of scream/shouting, followed a moment later by loud aggressive guitars. There’s a ton of payoff from the slow buildup to the aggressive release and it feels great, I just wish there were more of it, I think its one of the most triumphant musical moments on the album. The vocals on “world news” are a little better, with the awkward phrasings of “faster”/”bothered” working to the songs advantage. The song has a kind of odd vampire weekend vibe to it, accompanied by some of the records best lyrics:

“You don’t like anything on local radio
So you fumble around ’til you land on NPR
And listen to world news
Well, a bomb went off in the parking lot
Of a newly opened sunni marketplace
And a cloud covers your car at just the right time
For you to see the dark on your face
in the mirror”

and right when I’m getting tired of the formula they throw in the first piano track, “shape shifter”, one of the stronger tracks on the album. It slowly builds up from being a mellow piano-driven track to an epic guitar rock song, driven by drums that feel like the engine of an out of control steam train. “Cards and quarters” is the next track to switch things up, offering a kind of hip hop drum beat, accompanied by some reverby guitar and piano. “who knows who cares” is probably my favorite song on the album (at the moment), even though I’m not such a huge fan of the lyrics. its a kind of quiet folk ballad that turns into a bigger baroque-rock song towards the end. I think its the strings that does it for me (this is actually one of the weaker drum tracks, though they’re not bad by any stretch, just sort of plain and downplayed).

I’m still not quite sure how I feel about this band. I’ve probably listened through all the way about 10 times now(and counting), and I’m still not sure if the album is growing on me or if I’m getting more and more bored of it. I feel like this band has the capacity to do some great unique things (sun hands/the intro of camera talk/cards & quarters/the intro of stranger things), and for some reason they are choosing to play music that ‘fits in’ to the overall indie music world of 2010. I really wish I could listen to this band when they were all shitfaced drunk recording into an old cassette tape deck using only 2-3 shitty microphones. I guess they’re just a little too tame for my taste.

Listen to: 03. Sun Hands,09. Who Knows Who Cares

As always, if you like the music I post here, support the band and go see a show or buy some merch off their website.

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