On the first
Cotillon
album, singer/songwriter
Jordan Corso
worked with
JR White
of
Girls
fame to craft a fairly lush version of what
Jad Fair
might sound like if backed by a super-competent band of indie rockers.
Corso
's plaintive, homespun vocals contrasted well with the expansive music, but at times it felt like an ill fit. The second
album, 2017's
The Afternoons
, presents a course correction that sees
working with producer
Shane Butler
and a smaller group of musicians. Gone are horns, layers of guitars, and any traces of slickness. Instead,
's winning vocals and tales of life are delivered in much scrappier fashion. The guitars are wiry and tough, the rhythm section is recorded live and lively, and the occasional synths drop in to make some noise. Like the first album, the songs are stories and
comes across as a lovable guy, with a little more romantic success this time. While most of the tracks lope along calmly in fine post-
Pavement
slacker style -- both fast like on "Secret" and slow and shambly as on "10 Dish Set" --
mixes in a few changeups to keep it interesting. The vocoder-sung ballad "Promises 2" is a real curveball; the motorik groove of "SFO" is another one that gives the album an energy boost right when it needs it. The snappy pop tune "Fang" is a tiny pop gem that's likely to be the mixtape pick of
Beat Happening
fans who are lucky enough to discover the record. It comes together really nicely in the end, with
sounding more at home in the stripped-down arrangements, and the album is a definite improvement over the band's debut. ~ Tim Sendra