Ladybug Transistor
's 1999 release
The Albemarle Sound
is one of the great chamber pop albums to be released in any era. On it, the band absorb great chunks of influence from the past and meld it to a modern approach with the result being music that nods to
the Beach Boys
,
the Left Banke
the Bee Gees
, and
Burt Bacharach
while taking into account the psychedelic guitars of
Elephant 6
and a general D.I.Y. approach to recording that makes the record feel small enough to fit in one's back pocket, but also large enough to fill a heart to the brim with real feeling. The band layer strings, jangling guitars, horns, warm keyboards, flutes, and vocal harmonies into a pleasing tapestry of sound for vocalist
Gary Olson
to moodily croon over. His deep, unaffected vocals are one of the things that set the band apart from both the
E6
groups and other chamber pop bands; he's not looking to charm anyone with cuteness or sing like a lost
Beach Boy
, he's just trying to get the story across with minimum fuss. This kind of dramatic undersell carries over to the music as well. Everyone is very good at their chosen instruments, but they don't try to impress people with that. Instead, everyone bands together and under
Olson
's direction, manage to sound accomplished and innocent all at once. For examples of the intricacies of the arrangements, check out "Six Times," where the pieces fit together in breathtaking fashion or "The Swimmer," where the 12-string jangle and bouncy piano add some poppy sugar to the mixture. Listen to the way the reverb splash of the nimble bassline on the sweeping ballad "Today Knows" melts with the lachrymose strings to create a melancholy cloud of sound for
to intone his most affecting vocal on the record over, or how the cellos and horns do a nifty little dance on the
Sasha Bell
-sung ballad "Aledia's Theme," which ends the album on an impressive note. This is the sound of a young band figuring things out, mixing and matching sounds and influences to come up with something they're proud to call their own. Any band of a similar ilk -- whether they were making records in 1967 or 1999 -- would be more than proud to release something this deftly made and emotionally powerful. ~ Tim Sendra